The RISE OF THE NETWORK
IN MOROCCO
Abstract: This article analyses the dynamics and transformations of Moroccan telecommunications within the context of globalisation and technological advancement in the late 1990s. The Moroccan government developed an electronic strategy, known as the E-Morocco, to bring the country into an information-based society. This article examines recent innovative policies on issues of liberal institutional environment, telecommunications infrastructure, IT education and training, e-commerce applications and electronic governance, in order to explore the national telecommunications strategy and to chronologise Moroccan entrance into an era of the network society.
1. Introduction
2. A Brief History of Telecommunications in Morocco
3. The Government and the ICTs' Policy
3.1 The Role of the Government
3.2 The Government's ITCs Investment
4. Telecommunications Infrastructures
4.1 Fixed Telephone
4.2 Mobile Telephone
4.3 Computers
4.4 The Internet
4.4.1 Legal Aspects of the Internet
5. National Strategy: E-Morocco
5.1 E-education
5.2 E-government
5.3 E-commerce
6. Conclusion
7. References
Personal Communication
Biographical statement
Acknowledgement
1. Introduction
In the late 1990s, Morocco's telecommunications sector underwent major structural transformations. To remain on the cutting-edge of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and thus to be globally competitive, the Moroccan government has thrust ICTs into the forefront of national socio-economic development. This includes institutional reform and genuine telecommunications policies. It has allocated a substantial amount of the budget to improve and promote the progress of ICTs throughout the country, through upgrading and expanding the telecommunications infrastructure as well as by popularising the use of the ICTs in the various sectors of Moroccan society.
Within the context of globalisation and technological advancements, liberalisation and privatisation programmes have also been launched in Morocco. Some of the changes come in response to a nationwide strategy, known as e-Morocco, developed by the government and which takes place in tandem with global telecommunications transformations. The aim of this essay is to present the most up-to-date overview of the state of the telecommunications infrastructure and the gradual moves toward the rise of a network society in Morocco.
This project was published under the title: “Towards a National Telecommunications Strategy in Morocco”, in First Monday
