Rabat – The Moroccan economy has lost $320 million as a direct result of the government’s decision made in January of this year to restrict VoIP service. The revelation is part of a new report by the American Center for Technological Innovation at the Brookings Institutions.
In the report, Darrell M. West, founding director of the Washington DC-based nonprofit public policy organization and the report’s writer, analyzes worldwide economic loss due to internet shutdowns in certain countries across the world. West estimates the total loss of revenue at $2.4 billion last year, alone.
According to the same report, the economy most affected is India’s with $968 million lost, followed by Saudi Arabia with $465 million, Morocco with $320 million, Iraq with $209 million, and the Republic of the Congo $72 million in estimated losses.
At the beginning of January, the Moroccan regulatory authority ANRT decided to restrict the use of VoIP service, which allows users to make free calls with 3G, 4G internet and Wi-Fi connection through popular mobile applications such as Whatsapp, Viber, Skype, Facebook, and Tango.
Moroccans expressed their dismay at the decision, launching a campaign calling on citizens to boycott the three main telecommunications triumvirate of Morocco including Maroc Telecom, Meditel, and INWI.
The Administrative Court of Rabat held a hearing on Tuesday for a case filed by a Moroccan citizen against ANRT’s decision to restrict the use of VoIP.
Edited by Constance Guindon
