More than 50% of Moroccans make phone calls via Internet, study finds
More than half (55%) of Moroccans use instant messaging applications to make phone calls, according to a study published Thursday by the Sunergia Group.
Additionally, 11% of the interviewees call mainly via the Internet, notably via instant messaging applications, and 44% use both traditional and web calls as needed, said the study entitled “Phone calls in Morocco, changing habits?”
45% of Moroccans generally use traditional phone calls. This rate is higher among men, with 55% (against 35% of women), said the study, noting that phone calls by traditional means attract more older customers (59% of those aged 45 and over), up compared to 34% of those under 35.
53% of rural area users are much more likely to be exclusively having traditional calls than the urban population (39%), added the same study.
The quality of the call (28% of the respondents), habits (24%) are more often mentioned by people aged 45 and over, and ease/practicality (19%) are the main reasons that push Moroccans to prefer traditional telephone calls, according to Sunergia study findings.
Regarding gender, 17% of women use the internet more as their main means of making phone calls than men (5%), showed the study.
26% of young people aged 18-24 are more attracted to this online feature, compared to 6% of people aged over 25, added the same source.
Internet callers cited cost as the major advantage of this service (47%), while 22% said ease/practicality and 21% said by habit as the main reasons for choosing this feature.
Young people aged 24 to 35 are the most concerned by the use of both solutions simultaneously (traditional calls and web), as they are probably mostly active and belong to an intermediate generation, familiar with both technologies.
On the other hand, people aged 55 and over are the least users of this mixed solution, added the study.
The particular importance of the Internet among young people, especially generation Z (people born between 1996 and 2010), is probably due to the fact that this category has more smartphones than other age groups and is more familiar with this tool.
The mobile phone sector in Morocco
The overall mobile telephony customer base in Morocco has grown from 45.9 million lines at the end of December 2019 to over 52.0 million by the end of the third quarter of 2021, specified the study.
The number of multi-simmers (people with several SIM cards) is still on the rise, and this market is growing very strongly, said Sunergia in the study.
Towards new offers?
Although 11% of Moroccans use the Internet as their primary means of making calls, with the main reason is the free cost of these applications.
These new and seemingly freeways of calling are in fact a pure transfer of value from the telephone operators to the developers of these applications who have created innovative business models.
Although traditional telephone calls are still the most widely used option. More than half (55%) of Moroccans use these applications to make phone calls, and more so among the younger generations.
“The reflection undoubtedly requires further study of the behavior and habits of Moroccans when making calls, but these preliminary results offer an interesting line of thought to telephone operators,” recommended the study.
