Inwi (Arabic: إنوي) (formerly known as Wana) is a telecommunications company in Morocco. One of the three major Internet service providers in the country, it is a subsidiary of the group SNI and the Kuwaiti group Zain.

Inwi
Company typePrivate company
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedApril 2009; 14 years ago (2009-04) (Jointly owned by ONA and Kuwait's Zain)
FounderKarim Zaz
Headquarters,
Morocco
Key people
Nadia Fassi Fehri, Chief Executive Officer (2015–)
ProductsFixed phones, Mobile phone lines, Digital Television, Internet access
Number of employees
1300 +
Websitehttp://www.inwi.ma

With more than 50 000 branches, Inwi is the third largest telecommunications company in Morocco,[1] after Maroc Telecom and Orange.[2] Inwi's network covers more than 92% of the country's territory.[3]

History edit

Based in Casablanca,[4] Wanadoo Maroc was created in 1999, by Karim Zaz.[5] In 2004 and following the withdrawal of France Telecom, Wanadoo Morocco sold its subsidiary Maroc Connect to local investors:[6] Attijariwafa bank and Caisse de dépôt nationale via its subsidiary, Fipar holding.[7]

In 2005, ONA became the reference shareholder of Maroc Connect.[8] In 2006, Maroc Connect won the third 3G license in Morocco.[9]

In 2007, Maroc Connect became Wana,[10] the third operator for home telephones and 3G internet. In 2009, Wana wins the third GSM license in Morocco under its Inwi brand.[11] In February, the Kuwaiti consortium Zain/Alajial takes control of 31% of Inwi's capital.[12]

A year after its launch, Inwi reported five million customers in February 2010 and 13.5% of market shares in December 2010.[13]

In March 2015, Wana obtained its 4G license for the Inwi brand. The Brand had the best rating according to the criteria set by the ARNT (Coverage commitment, quality of service and business plan for the deployment of high and very high speed broadband in Morocco).[14]

The decision of ARNT to block the VoIP provoked a campaign of online protests against various Moroccan operators, including Inwi, in 2016. The company reacted by withdrawing from the sponsorship of the Maroc Web Awards and started the development of an application to use VoIP services.[15]

In September 2016, Inwi was the first operator to offer VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) technology to its 4G subscribers.[16] Also in 2016, Inwi was awarded the Moroccan Digital Awards, which recognizes the best companies that stand out in the digital world, for its social initiative "Dir Iddik", a platform linking the associative world with volunteers. More than 50,000 people have registered since then.[17]

In 2020, Inwi became the official sponsor of the Moroccan 1st and 2nd division professional football championship.[18]

Thus, the first division championship will be called in 2020–2021 "Botola Inwi 1".[19]

In 2023, Inwi expands collaboration with Subex to utilize aI-driven fraud management and business assurance on HyperSense platform.

Activities edit

Mobile phones edit

The operator holds 24.20% of the entire mobile phone flee, in 2016.[20] Following the opening of 07 numbers by the ANRT, Inwi customers were offered the possibility to customize their phone number.[21]

Home phones edit

With the Bayn brand, Inwi offers a restricted mobility offer on the CDMA network.

Internet edit

Inwi offers Internet access for professionals via broadband ADSL and fiber optics as well as 3G and 4G coverage for individuals. In June 2016, the brand holds 25.15% of the market's share, in second position behind Maroc Telecom.[22] It holds more than 17 million internet subscribers.[23]

VoIP service edit

Born from the alliance between Wana and the French company "Phone Systems & Network" in 2007, Bladiphone offers a communication service between France and Morocco through VoIP technology.[24]

Double Play Offer edit

In 2017 and in partnership with the brand WanaOne, the operator developed a box to allow a reinforced access to Internet and telephone for companies.[25]

Cloud edit

As of 2016, the operator proposed a professional service Cloud called "Business Digital Workplace".[26] This service includes:[27]

  • Infrastructure as a Service IaaS
  • Desktop as a Service, DaaS
  • Software as a Service, SaaS
  • Voice as a Service, VaaS

Other activities edit

Starting from October 2016, Inwi developed a consulting activity for digital companies (particularly Green tech and smart cities), via partnership with Numa Casablanca incubator. A dedicated incubation area (Open Lab Inwi) and other programs of training and raising awareness (Datacity) were launched on this occasion.[28][29] On the occasion of the COP22 that took place in Morocco by the end of 2016, Inwi partnered with Moroccan Game Developers (MGD) to plan a contest that promotes the creation of Moroccan video games.[30]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Inwi Launches 'Special' Student Package". Morocco World News. 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  2. ^ (http://www.hydrant.co.uk), Site designed and built by Hydrant (2015-09-14). "Morocco consolidates voice services and expands data offers in ICT sector". Oxford Business Group. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  3. ^ "Inwi couvre désormais 92% du territoire national". Medias24 - Site d'information (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  4. ^ "Wana Corporate, SA: Private Company Information". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  5. ^ "Ils font bouger le Maroc – JeuneAfrique.com". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 2006-05-05. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  6. ^ "Wanadoo vend sa filiale au Maroc". lesechos.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  7. ^ "L'ONA en force dans Maroc Connect". Aujourd'hui le Maroc (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  8. ^ "L'ONA mise sur les télécoms et l'environnement". L'Economiste (in French). 2006-03-29. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  9. ^ "Morocco awards three 3G licences to domestic operators". telegeography.com. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  10. ^ ""Wana", nouvel opérateur télécom au Maroc". Bladi.net (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  11. ^ "Wana awarded third 2G licence". telegeography.com. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  12. ^ "L'offre de vente de Zain Group menacée". L'Economiste (in French). 2011-03-31. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  13. ^ "Intratel - L'expert des installations telecoms et du broadcasting | Moroccan operator Inwi (Wana) had 5 million mobile customers in February, one year after launch". intratel.ma (in French). Archived from the original on 2014-12-23. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  14. ^ Nouvelle, L'Usine (2015-03-18). "4G au Maroc : les opérateurs Maroc Telecom, Inwi et Méditel obtiennent chacun une licence pour un coût global de 188 millions d'euros - L'Usine Maroc". usinenouvelle.com/ (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  15. ^ Yabiladi.com. "Face à la mobilisation des internautes Inwi retire son sponsoring des Maroc Web Awards" (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  16. ^ "4G : la VoLTE se répand chez les opérateurs, on fait le point". nextinpact.com (in French). 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  17. ^ "#ADSGAM : Premiers lauréats pour les Moroccan Digital Awards - La Nouvelle Tribune". La Nouvelle Tribune (in French). 2016-12-04. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  18. ^ "Moroccan football lands deal with telecoms giant Inwi". 20 November 2020.
  19. ^ "THE NEW SEASON IS SET TO START IN ALL MOROCCAN FOOTBALL CATEGORIES". La Nouvelle Tribune. 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  20. ^ "TELEPHONIE MOBILE AU MAROC" (PDF). 2016.
  21. ^ "Inwi : la personnalisation du numéro de téléphone est possible". Aujourd'hui le Maroc (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  22. ^ "Le Marché d'ADSL dominé par Maroc Telecom malgré le lancement des offres de méditel et inwi". L'actualité des TIC au Maroc et ailleurs (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  23. ^ "Le réseau inwi accompagne les Marocains: Près de 17 millions d'abonnés à Internet". Aujourd'hui le Maroc (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  24. ^ "Une solution télécoms pour les Marocains de France". L'Economiste (in French). 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  25. ^ "Télécommunications : Wana lance WanaOne". Aujourd'hui le Maroc (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  26. ^ "Inwi dévoile son service Cloud: La transformation numérique au service des entreprises". Aujourd'hui le Maroc (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  27. ^ "Business Digital Workplace : Le Cloud au service de la transformation numérique des entreprises | The Rolling Notes". www.therollingnotes.com (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  28. ^ "inwi et Numa Casablanca : les 3 programmes du partenariat | The Rolling Notes". www.therollingnotes.com (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  29. ^ "Inwi et Numa Casablanca s'associent pour booster les start-up". Telquel.ma (in French). 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  30. ^ Taleb, Sanae. "Inwi sponsorise Z7am, un jeu 100% marocain". www.leseco.ma. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-24.

External links edit