Morocco Data SIMs - my experience..//

Just returned from a trip to Morocco - so here are my experiences of Data SIMs

I wanted to get an "Internet Jawal" Pre-pay Internet only SIM from Maroc Telecom. This is 50dh(approx €5) for a week of Internet, or 200dh for a month. This is very good value, and Maroc Telecom appear to have the best coverage - with 3G/HSPA. Here is the link for this product

Combien ça coûte ? - Internet 3G Jawal

I purchased a Maroc Telecom SIM, but had great difficulty getting it to work on the Internet Jawal tariff. It worked briefly on the first day after activation and then stopped working. There are very few Phone shops in Morocco - most people seem to buy phones & SIMs from market stalls. However, the people running the stalls have very little capability to provide technical support, and they can only use the consumer call centre to contact Maroc Telecom. After initial activation, it is necessary to wait 24hours for a text msg, before you can use the SIM, and then potentially another 24h to get the tariff changed. I returned to the stall several times, and on the last occasion, the stall owner must have spent about an hour trying to get the SIM working. He tried very hard - but I still don't believe he had got it on the right tariff. It was probably on a pay-as-you use Internet tariff with voice calls - not Internet Jawal - pure Internet.

I believe the problem arose because the SIMs are not tied to the Internet Jawal tariff when you buy them - and you have to contact the call centre to ask to be switched to the Internet Jawal tariff. Since I don't speak Arabic, and have limited French, I asked the Stall holder to contact the call centre. It is also possible, that the stall holder failed to take a copy of my Passport details, and that my subscription failed due to this? The rules appear to be that you need to submit Passport details in order to use Internet in Morocco - but the stall holder never asked me for these - he said they weren't necessary.

In desperation, I abandoned Maroc Telecom, and dropped into an INWI store - they appear to have some normal stores in Morocco - with experienced staff who have terminal access to their activation system. They recommended the Zen Connect package for 100dh (€10). It cost me 120dh - so perhaps the SIM was 20dh extra?. This gives 1GByte of Internet over 30 days and 2 hours of voice calls. I didn't really want the voice calls - but the offer included calls to European landlines - and this actually turned out to be useful.

Mobile - Forfait Zen

The big advantage of INWI was that they experienced staff in the shop were able to sign me up immediately, and I left the shop with a working SIM. The big disadvantage is that their network didn't appear to have any 3G/HSPA - EDGE only - so speeds are slower than Maroc Telecom - and coverage is poorer. Having said that, the network had coverage in all the locations where I was travelling - Marrakech, Fes, the Atlas Mountains and the railway from Marrakech to Fes - so I never had any problems with coverage. Also the EDGE speeds were good - better than 3G in many places that I have experienced on other networks. But not always good enough for VOIP - so the free International minutes turned out to be useful.

In summary, I would recommend INWI for simplicity - but if someone can figure out how to get the Maroc Telecom SIMs working - then please post here - because their package is very good value if you can get it working.

...I didn't try the other operator Meditel - probably worth checking also.