Market concentration and competitiveness in the Moroccan Telecommunications sector

Market concentration and competitiveness in the Moroccan Telecommunications sector | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Market concentration and competitiveness in the Moroccan Telecommunications sector Carlos Gutiérrez-Hita, Vita Zhukova, Soumaya Amassaghrou This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7179032/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We investigate the evolution of Morocco's telecommunications sector by analysing market concentration and the extent to which the liberalization process explains competitiveness at the aggregate level, as well as within the fixed and mobile markets separately. We use a dataset from the World Bank and the Moroccan National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency, covering the period from 2004 to 2023. Our findings indicate that, despite of the huge spread and development of new facilities in the mobile market thanks to a broader expansion of R&D, the fixed market remains highly concentrated. This is exacerbated by remarkably low fiber penetration, resulting from insufficient infrastructure and almost market monopolization exerted by the incumbent operator IAM. In contrast, the mobile market has undergone continuous expansion during the period. Consequently, strategic investment in technology and improvements of the network infrastructure in the fixed market is crucial. It could decrease the concentration of the telecommunications market, enhancing competitiveness in the fixed and mobile market and potentially encourage the entry of new operators. JEL classification: D21· D22 · L13 · L40. Moroccan telecommunications sector Market concentration Competitiveness Socio-economic indicators Connectivity technologies Full Text Supplementary Files Highlights.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 04 Aug, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 23 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 22 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7179032","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":495345744,"identity":"6965d1a9-62ba-4deb-8505-326ddc64bd73","order_by":0,"name":"Carlos Gutiérrez-Hita","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCCBDDJfICBsYE4DYwNEC1sCSRogdA8BsRp4e9fY/7gQcW9fH7+M9+kbu5gkJMnpE3ixhvDhoQzxZYzG85uk849w2BscICAFgOJM4YNiW0JBgYHe4Fa2hgSNxByGETLvwQD+8M8z0Ba6ucTcpgBfw9QSwPQFjYeNpCWBAZCDpO4wVY4I+FYAtA2NmPr3DYJww2EtPD3H97w8UdNggGQ8fB2bpuNPMEQY5BIQOUSUg+yhpA7RsEoGAWjYBQAAO0PP98Gs4x+AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3156-1356","institution":"Miguel Hernandez University of Elche: Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carlos","middleName":"","lastName":"Gutiérrez-Hita","suffix":""},{"id":495345745,"identity":"ff2820dc-70ef-4c95-83f8-31bdcebfd507","order_by":1,"name":"Vita Zhukova","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad Católica de Murcia: Universidad Catolica San Antonio de Murcia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vita","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhukova","suffix":""},{"id":495345746,"identity":"16e81a8e-3c74-45bf-8d67-4846e5b92cb6","order_by":2,"name":"Soumaya Amassaghrou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad Miguel Hernández: Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Soumaya","middleName":"","lastName":"Amassaghrou","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-21 15:26:53","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7179032/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7179032/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":88400220,"identity":"b7c24c96-e5f1-479f-b017-5bc84da6b6fa","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-06 06:52:08","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1059876,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"PaperJulyfinalJIBEZAG.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7179032/v1_covered_48785462-214a-4c7f-bc93-75558f7a95e8.pdf"},{"id":88399036,"identity":"ea044dd7-c601-4b67-bca9-255fa896272a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-06 06:44:06","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":14998,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Highlights.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7179032/v1/2a17234c9b913bab418242b1.docx"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Market concentration and competitiveness in the Moroccan Telecommunications sector","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-industrial-and-business-economics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"jibe","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Industrial and Business Economics](https://www.springer.com/journal/40812)","snPcode":"40812","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/jibe","title":"Journal of Industrial and Business Economics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Moroccan telecommunications sector, Market concentration, Competitiveness, Socio-economic indicators, Connectivity technologies","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7179032/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7179032/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWe investigate the evolution of Morocco's telecommunications sector by analysing market concentration and the extent to which the liberalization process explains competitiveness at the aggregate level, as well as within the fixed and mobile markets separately. 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