Aujourd'hui le Maroc: Morocco to launch new bid for second telephone license before end of year

A new bid for Morocco's second land telephone license will be launched before end of 2003, minister of industry, trade and telecommunication, Rachid Talbi Alami, said.

In an interview with daily Aujourd'hui le Maroc, published on Monday, the minister discarded any link of Morocco's phone operator, Maroc Telecom, with the failure of the first bid, launched in November 2002.

Several factors make it difficult for new telecoms firms to operate in Morocco, among them the law 24-96, which bans the use of infrastructure other than the group's own, and a provision that the license might be withdrawn from a faulty contractor, the minister said, deeming it necessary that these laws be amended before liberalization.

These legal problems will be addressed before end of 2003, Talbi Alami said.

He also cited the difficulties in the international telecom market as another reason why the first bid was unsuccessful, mainly the financial crisis that hit the sector which had the value of its share decrease by over 50%.