Presentation

Law no. 24-96 clarifies the scope of Universal Service, which has been redefined as a telecommunications service (and not limited to a telephone service), including value-added services such as Internet access.
Universal service thus corresponds to : 

• The routing of emergency calls, the provision of an information service and a printed or electronic directory;
• Tasks relating to regional development, the provision of telecoms infrastructure and services to industrial and rural areas, enabling access to broadband and ultra-broadband, and supporting the development of telecoms technology and monitoring;
• Value-added services as part of the Universal Service, in particular Internet access services.

Morocco's Universal Telecommunications Service is governed by law no. 24-96 and decree no. 2-97-1026.  
Through these regulatory provisions, the legislator has established the rules for managing the Universal Service, by clearly defining the mechanisms required for its implementation. These include: 

• Broadening the scope of the Universal Service to include land-use planning and value-added services, in particular those enabling Internet access; 
• The creation of an inter-ministerial committee called the "Comité de Gestion du Service Universel de Télécommunications (CGSUT)" (Universal Telecommunications Service Management Committee), which is primarily responsible for defining and validating the Universal Service programs to be implemented;
• The creation of specific fund called the "Fonds du Service Universel des Télécommunications" (FSUT). This fund will finance all Universal Service programs validated by the CGSUT;
• Clarification of the terms and conditions governing the realisation of Universal Service missions by Public Telecommunications Network Operators (ERPT).

The Universal Service is financed by a special fund (FSUT) created for this purpose by the 2005 Finance Act. The FSUT is financed by contributions from telecommunications operators (cf. article 13 Bis of law no. 24-96). This fund may also receive any other contributions in the form of donations and bequests allocated within the framework of the development of Universal Telecommunications Service programs.

The Comité de Gestion du Service Universel des Télécommunications (Universal Telecommunications Service Management Committee) is an inter-ministerial committee reporting to the Head of Government:

• The government authority in charge of the Interior ;
• The government authority in charge of land use planning ;
• The government authority in charge of Finance;
• The government authority in charge of Telecommunications;
• The government authority in charge of National Defense;
• The Chairman of the ANRT Management Committee;
• The ANRT's Director General.

Committee missions

The Universal Telecommunications Service Management Committee is responsible to :

• determine programs for the implementation of universal service throughout the country, in accordance with the priorities set;
• propose, for each call for tenders, the content of the "universal service in compliance with the provisions of the aforementioned law n°24-96;
• Examine programs proposed by operators of existing public telecommunications networks;
• Approve draft specifications for competitive bidding for programs not carried out by existing public telecoms network operators, as submitted by the ANRT.

The "pay or play" mechanism chosen by the Moroccan legislator offers existing operators two options for participating in Universal Service missions: operators can either make their pecuniary contributions into the Universal Service Fund, or carry out the Universal Service missions set out in a particular  specifications.