Morocco is preparing to issue a tender for 5G bandwidth, a project that has attracted interest from both China’s Huawei and Western companies. Huawei is already well-established in the country, partnering with local operators Maroc Telecom and Orange Maroc, putting it in a stronger position compared to Western competitors like Nokia, Ericsson, and Oracle.
The successful bidder will face the challenge of meeting the Moroccan government’s ambitious goals of providing 5G coverage to 25% of the population by 2026 and 70% by 2030, the same year the country co-hosts the FIFA World Cup. The six cities selected to host World Cup matches will be fully covered by 5G as part of these targets.
5G promises to deliver download speeds up to 100 times faster than 4G, with latency reduced to as low as 1 millisecond. Morocco boasts one of the highest internet penetration rates in Africa, at 90.7%.
