The National Telecommunications Regulations Agency (ANRT) has released its annual report into telecommunications access and usage in Morocco.
The ANRT report analyzes information from 5820 households and 5820 individuals aged 5 years and over, to identify trends in mobile phone, laptop, and internet usage.
According to the report, 99.8% of Moroccans have mobile phones, and of these, 75.7% have smartphones. This is a significant increase from 2011 figures, when only 12% of phone owners had smartphones.
The data shows Moroccans seem to prefer smartphones over computers, as smartphone ownership growth rates far exceed computer ownership rates. In 2018, only 60.6% of Moroccans had computers, up from 34% in 2010.
Read Also: 90.7% of Moroccan Rural Population Own a Phone
According to ANRT, access to the internet by Moroccan households has increased three-fold over the last eight years. 74.2% of households are now equipped with internet. Access rates in rural areas remain lower than in urban areas. The report finds eight out of ten households in urban areas have an internet connection, compared to just over half of households in rural areas.
74.2% of people access the internet from their phones.
Those who do not have internet in their homes cite a number of reasons for this: lack of need (51.6%), high price of equipment and connection (60.4%), unavailability of internet (14%), access to internet elsewhere (15.1%), confidentiality and security (5.5%), cultural reasons (4.9%), and absence of electricity in the household (1.4%).
The reasons for having an internet connection are diverse. The leading reason is “entertainment” (including games and social networks) at 95.2%, following the news (86.1%), work (51.3%), studies or research (33.3%), and access to television through the internet (17.1%).
The report finds that Whatsapp is the most used online social network in Morocco, used by 96.5% of respondents. Whatsapp is closely followed by YouTube (90.6%), then by Facebook (88.4%), and Instagram (44.7%).
Millions therefore noticed when Whatsapp, Facebook, and Instagram were down for a few hours on July 3. Users blamed Maroc Telecom for slow internet, but the national network provider quickly issued a statement explaining that the problem “came from platforms located outside the national territory.”
