Calls and SMS Decline as 5G Reaches 38% of Moroccans

Marrakech – Morocco’s telecommunications sector closed 2025 with a clear shift in user behavior. Voice calls and text messages continued their downward slide, while data consumption and fiber connections surged ahead, according to the latest quarterly report published by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT).

The numbers speak for themselves. Outgoing mobile voice traffic fell 12.55% over the year to 40.90 billion minutes. The average monthly usage per subscriber dropped 15.1% to just 58 minutes.

Prepaid users averaged only 26 minutes per month, down from 33 in 2024. Postpaid subscribers saw their average fall to 261 minutes from 305. SMS volumes followed the same trajectory, shrinking 16.46% to 1.54 billion messages sent throughout the year.

A growing base of subscribers

Yet Morocco’s mobile subscriber base kept growing. The total mobile park reached 59.16 million subscriptions by the end of December, a 1.5% annual increase representing 877,000 new additions. Mobile penetration now stands at 160.65%.

The prepaid segment, still dominant at 50.90 million users, grew a modest 0.55%. Postpaid subscriptions climbed faster at 7.83%, reaching 8.26 million – an addition of 600,000 subscribers. The average revenue per minute settled at 19 centimes. Call success rates remained high at 98.54%.

The rollout of 5G marked one of the report’s most significant developments. Morocco officially launched 5G services on November 7, with major operators – Maroc Telecom, Orange Maroc, and inwi – deploying the network simultaneously to meet demand for high-speed internet.

The deployment quickly covered dozens of cities shortly after launch, with significant expansion planned in preparation for the 2030 World Cup.

By the end of 2025, 2.63 million users were on 5G networks; this base was supported by more than 9,000 deployed radio sites. Approximately 38% of the population is now covered by 5G. Meanwhile, the 4G user base declined 1.78% to 33.74 million, losing around 610,000 users as migration to 5G began taking effect.

Internet subscriptions reached 41.46 million, pushing penetration to 112.59% – a 3.09% annual rise adding 1.24 million new subscribers. Mobile internet users totaled 38.52 million, up 2.89%. Average monthly data consumption climbed 21.1% to 46 gigabytes per subscriber across fixed and mobile.

Mobile users consumed 14 GB monthly, up from 12 GB. Fixed internet subscribers consumed 465 GB, compared to 385 GB in 2024. Mobile data quality indicators showed average download speeds of 83 Mbps, upload speeds of 36 Mbps, and latency of 57 milliseconds.

An incremental but steady transition toward next-generation internet

Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connections exceeded 1.4 million, surging 32.87% in a single year. Nearly 61% of FTTH subscribers enjoy speeds above 50 Mbps. The FTTH park now accounts for 49.39% of fixed wired internet subscriptions.

The ADSL park stood at 1.44 million, with 95% of connections offering speeds above 12 Mbps. Unbundled lines represent 51.2% of total ADSL subscriptions.

The broader fixed-line park grew 6.3% to 3.23 million subscriptions. Fixed telephone penetration reached 41.84% of households when including 4G-FDD boxes, which brought the total to 4.56 million.

Outgoing fixed voice traffic rose sharply by 29.82% to 1.71 billion minutes, with monthly usage averaging 46 minutes per subscriber. Unbundled lines (ADSL and FTTH combined) represent nearly 30% of the total fixed wired park. Fixed number portability approached 200,000 successful transfers, up 13.33%. Mobile number portability surpassed 1.61 million, rising 9.5%.

International internet bandwidth grew 35% to reach 7,351 GB utilized, against a deployed capacity of 14,900 GB – a 49% usage rate. The sector’s overall revenue appreciated 2.12% compared to 2024, consistent with the average annual trend since 2017.

The enterprise data segment contracted. Subscribers to enterprise data links fell 6.28% to 36,512. National enterprise links declined 6.24%, with VPN-IP accounting for 85.96% of connections, LAN-to-LAN at 10.79%, and leased lines at 3.25%.

Morocco’s .ma domain name registrations neared 134,000, an 8.1% increase. Over 38,500 new domain names were registered in 2025, up from 34,000 the previous year.

The country holds 11% of IPv4 address allocations across Africa and the Indian Ocean region, ranking as the continent’s third-largest holder with 12.27 million addresses. Some 96.4% of allocated IPv4 addresses are effectively in use.

On the IPv6 front, 81% of addresses allocated to Morocco by AFRINIC are now effectively assigned. Three new IPv4 address ranges were attributed in 2025, adding 1,792 addresses, alongside a new /48 IPv6 block. This signaled a gradual but steady transition toward next-generation internet protocols.