Buying & Using a Moroccan SIM
 

How about a thread about all we know about running SIMs in Morocco?
Doubtless there may be a good page somewhere on the internet, but here it will get updated by many users.
Compared to outback UK, you will amazed how far out you can get a few phone bars or 4G.
Not much of a phone user myself so only come to this lately: this is what I've found and what I think I know.
Please correct and add. I will edit this OP with corrections and the thread for clarity. Please post useful info, not chit chat.

• Maroc Telecom, Inwi and Orange are the three main operators.
  
• You can buy a SIM card from any town telecom boutique. At these places I have never had to show passport ID; flashier/branded boutiques in cities/airport arrivals may ask.
  
• Get either calls/SMS only, and/or 4G/data. Calls-only SIMs cost from 20dh (yes, < a couple of quid) including 20dh of credit.
  
• At RAK airport, all three ops have desks on the left as you emerge arrivals hall and head for the exit, but at Menara (RAK) you must pay MT in Euros and Inwi wanted €20 minimum. Buy in town.
  
• Not surprised to read that SIMs sold by freelance vendors as you exit a sea port are dodgy or overpriced, etc. Buy and set up at a main street telecom boutique so you can walk away with phone working. These boutiques are everywhere.
  
• 20dh of calls/texts won't last long so buy more on the spot.
  
• Get the telecom savvy youngster to set you up, as it can involve Arabic / French recorded instructions. Get them to set SIM in your language, if that's a thing.
  
• You can buy/recharge SIMs for calls/SMS only ('appel') and/or 4G/data ('internet', '4G' or similar).
  They are different things. Put a tenner on both for more than a fortnight.
  
• Important thing is to get your actual phone number (212 06 XX XX XX XX), not always obvious/written, afaik; as well as the PIN (usually '0000' and which you can soon change).
  
• I believe it is something like dial: #99 to see your number? Could be wrong or only MT.
  
• You can recharge in any village shop, but in the south I have found MT are most easily found.
  
• Sometimes it's a scratch card which you can buy in various denominations from 20D. Just text the scratch number to #555.
  Anyway, I sometimes get them to do it for me so I know it's worked.
  Or with no scratch; the shop bloke credits you off his phone via some special number.
  
• In the same way, any Moroccan pal with a proper phone account (not PAYG) can credit you from anywhere.
  
• There is something about added credit extending your number's validity by weeks, because in the end if unused, the number will expire in a month and gets passed on. (Because of this you can occasionally get calls/SMS from strangers calling the previous number user. May be spam or just wrong number?).
  Same with 4G recharge which I think extends for months.
  
• Most Moroccans use free Whatapp for messaging/calls, not SMS. So get 4G. It is easy to transfer your Whatsapp number to foreign number - and then transfer back at home.
  
• I find 50dh/5gb of data will last a week, if not running live 4G mapping all day.
  
• By comparison, I hear your UK number can work abroad for ~£6 a day with loads of data.
  
• If you need to access your home number regularly (see below), consider bringing a spare (or dual SIM) phone.
  
• I don't know what an eSIM is, but others probably do.
  
• Remember, any internet account access that needs Two-Step Text Verification to your home number can cost you loads, if it's not set up for Morocco. Try and change/add your Moroccan number, but that can only be done when you know your Mk number. There may be other ways round this.
  
• Very often you will find your 4G works better than a cheaper hotel's wi-fi - or at least in any room.
  
• I'm not sure how to tell how much credit you have left.
  When it runs out I recharge in a shop somewhere.
  
• Having tried all three over the years, I have found MT easiest to recharge in remote villages, and MT 4G worked better than Inwi out on the piste. Elsewhere, near the border, Inwi was briefly better than MT. Never tried Orange 4G.

https://overlandershandbook.files.wo...4/01/rezo.jpeg

Something I wrote earlier for another site...

Having a smartphone in Morocco is obviously useful for communicating with folks back home and hotels, being able to look things up on the Internet, and for navigation when driving. It's possible your smartphone contract from back home might allow you to make and receive normal telephone calls whilst in Morocco, however the costs will likely be high. You may also be able to 'roam' with your home data contract, but again at likely high costs. So the logical solution is to fit a local Moroccan SIM card.

But even without obtaining a local SIM card, you can achieve much of what you need by using wifi (pronounced wee'fee) which is available in most hotels and the majority of cafes, just ask for the passcode (“le code du wifi s'il vous plaît"). It won't be fast, so don't plan to stream a movie, but with free wifi you can use WhatsApp and Facetime to communicate, and can surf the Internet. But of course ONLY whilst you are at the hotel or cafe.

Even so, when away from the hotel/cafe you can still do basic navigation if you have already downloaded Google Maps to your smartphone before leaving home—search for 'download offline google maps iphone/android'. Your smartphone has a built-in GPS satellite receiver, so when you fire up Google Maps it will show you where you are on the map, and also indicate the direction you are facing. This is useful both when driving on roads, or when finding your way in a medina. Another hint for medina navigation is that all the millions of satellite dishes point slightly east of south.

Even if you haven't downloaded offline maps, so long as you plan a route whilst still connected to a cafe wifi, your phone will continue to have access to all the information it needs when you move off.

With effect from iOS 17, you can now download Apple map segments to use offline to give you turn-by-turn directions, estimated arrival times and information like hours and ratings for places. See more information here

You can also download OpenStreetMaps offline maps from MAPS.ME These are the same maps I use in my BMW-badged Garmin GPS.

Finally... if you use Google Translate it’s a good idea to also download the French language vocabulary so you can use it offline.

One tip: it's often very difficult to find the contact details of a hotel; you can try searching the Internet but all the results are from booking companies who want you to use their service and definitely don't want you contacting the hotel directly! You can see what I mean if you try searching for 'auberge ibrahim agoudal'. However, most hotels now have their own presence on Facebook, so now try searching within Facebook for 'auberge ibrahim agoudal' and you will find telephone, email, twitter and website information.

OBTAINING A LOCAL VOICE/DATA CONTRACT

The best solution, however is to get a local SIM card on a prepaid contract. Mobile coverage in Morocco is excellent with 4G in most urban areas. Because such a high proportion of the population lives in the more remote areas, you will also find coverage in places you wouldn’t normally expect.

There’s three mobile operators, Maroc Telecom, Orange and Inwi (Maroc Telecom is also called IAM and Jawal, Orange took over what used to be Meditel). Service, coverage and costs are broadly similar from the three suppliers. If you purchase a SIM or eSIM from any other company offering coverage in Morocco, you will invariably pay much higher charges for the service.



First of all, before you leave home, make sure your phone is not irrevocably locked to your home contract, as you can only use other contracts if your phone is unlocked. If you are not sure, swap out your SIM card for a friend’s card on a different network; if it works OK your phone is unlocked. If you have an iPhone you can find out if it is locked by going to Settings > General > About. If "No SIM restrictions" appears next to Network Provider Lock, your iPhone is unlocked.

Visitors with the US-model iPhone 14 (2022) or iPhone 15 (2023) may have some problems due to their lack of a SIM card slot and reliance on eSIM technology. eSIMs are not widely adopted at the time of writing this post, so bring an earlier model iPhone if possible (see later discussion of eSIMs).

The Moroccan SIM cards are free (or 20 dh for a small call allowance), you just add a plan. If you are arriving at Marrakech airport, all three companies currently have booths after you go past the customs and leave airside but just before you go out of the terminal. At Casablanca airport, all the phone companies have booths as you come off the escalator after the customs exit. Agadir airport has Orange and Inwi outlets before customs and Maroc Telecom after customs. Other airports may be similar, but if not, visit their shops in town.

Marrakech has a big Maroc Telecom in Gueliz opposite McDonalds. Tanger has a big Maroc Telecom shop plus an Orange boutique near the railway station. Often there are students working for the company standing outside of these stores who will assist you.

You are likely to need to show your passport to have the SIM registered against your name and will need to pay in cash, so change some money first. Most short term visitors get a 5GB plan which typically costs 50dh. If you are here for more than a week, get a 10GB plan (100dh). This will last for up to 30 days from the date of purchase. If you are pressured into buying a 200dh 20GB plan just walk to another booth, you will get called back and offered 10GB. If there are two of you, you could get one SIM and then tether the other person’s phone to the Moroccan SIM personal hotspot.

You will be given a card with the SIM information on it including the password for the SIM card. The first thing I do is to remove the SIM card password. Ask for the default language for top-ups to be changed from Arabic to French.

Sometimes changes need to be made to the configuration, such as the APN (Access Point Name) settings to enable personal hotspot so friends' phones can piggybag on your data plan. So make sure tethering (personal hotspot) is enabled if you need this. If your home SIM has been removed, put it somewhere safe. Do not leave or pay until you are sure the new SIM is working for both voice and data.

All SIMs come with a Moroccan phone number. You get a small amount of local calls with the card, but most people will use WhatsApp for phone calls. You can top up the plan by buying scratch cards from a local shop. A 2GB top up will last for up to a week, a 5GB for up to 30 days.

iPhone phone contacts are stored in the smartphone memory, so no need to worry about not being able to access them when swapping out a SIM card. Android offers the choice of where to store contacts, so you should check where they are stored and if necessary move them from SIM to phone memory.



Once you are operational, you may get a message saying ‘carrier changed, do you want to register with a new phone number?’ Although it doesn’t state who the message is from (!), it’s actually WhatsApp. I always decline as I will be going back to my home number later.

When you remove your home SIM you will of course no longer be able to make or receive voice calls on your usual number (though WhatApp will still work).

I solve this having my UK contract on an eSIM which leaves the physical SIM slot free to fit a Spanish Lobster SIM or a Moroccan IAM SIM, giving me access to two networks at once. More on dual SIMs and eSIMs in a post further down.

CHECKING USAGE AND BUYING MORE CREDIT

On Orange with the app called "Orange et Moi" one can look at what's left. One simply goes to the first page where there's an option for "Mon Solde". Then click on "Detail du Solde" and a detailed breakdown of what's left appears and its validity.

Alternatively use your phone and call 5554 on Orange and it says how much calling credit and data are left and when they are valid until.

The alternative is to let a local help. They know what to do, they listen to the phone and tell you what was said (so your hotel could help you).

To top up just go to an agency or a "saca" (cigarette shop) and ask for "normal" "appels" "internet" "jeux" and how much one wants. The shopkeeper will do it with his phone as an instant recharge. There are also vouchers.

There is a number that leads to a voice telling the credit but i never use it and have forgotten what it is. There's also a text system that allows one to get an SMS message back saying what the remaining credit is. Forgotten the number for that too. I'll see if i can find out.

DUAL SIMs and eSIMs

Some older Android phones have dual SIM slots where you can keep your existing SIM and add a second one. What’s more usual nowadays is for phones to be able to simulate having a dual SIM by having an electronic version (eSIM is how cellular support is provided on the Apple Watch). iPhones that support eSIM include ALL models from the SE 2020, XR and XS onwards (so also iPhone 11, 12, 13, 14, 15).

My UK contract with EE is on an e-SIM and I normally have a Lobster card (my Spanish service) in the physical nano SIM slot. When I visit Morocco I take out the Lobster card and stick in a Maroc Telecom one. I keep both SIMs (EE and Maroc Telecom) active for incoming calls so either number reaches me, I set the default for outgoing calls to the Maroc Telecom SIM. If you have both SIMs active like I do, when you come to make a normal telephone call, the SIM you are about to use is shown at the top of the screen and you can change that if you wish.

I set the default mobile data also to Maroc Telecom. You can also configure mobile data switching so you use whichever has the better coverage but you probably don’t want this as you would incur additional charges from your home service.

The iPhone 14/15 sold in USA don’t have a physical SIM tray and only supports eSIMs, there are rumours that the next generation of iPhone 16 models for Europe will be similar, which means the devices would work only with eSIMs for cellular connectivity.

It’s currently not easy to obtain an eSIM from one of the three Moroccan companies, though one visitor reported that if you visit one of Maroc Telecom’s big stores you can convert your free nano SIM into an eSIM deal and set up your phone for the eSIM at a cost of 60dh on top of whatever you add for your data plan.

Another visitor reported seeing Orange selling eSIM services at Agadir airport.

On this link, Maroc Telecom suggests the https://www.iam.ma/particulier/offres-mobiles/services/pratique/e-SIM.aspx
eSIM should be the same price as the nano SIM[/url].

Apple has suggestions on international eSIM support, and one of the vendors mentioned that offers a prepaid data eSIM that you can install yourself is Airalo. Airalo’s eSIM works on Maroc Telecom’s network, however be aware there’s no voice calls and the data allowance is just 1GB before needing to be topped up.

is it worth using a Mifi router? a pocket router, battery operated and with sim slot. therefore keeping your home number on your main phone

USING A MiFi DEVICE IN MOROCCO

A MiFi device is a small battery-powered router/hotspot that works using a local SIM cellular connection, providing a local wireless network to phones, laptops, tablets, etc. Total number of devices supported typically ranges from 4 to 32 units, depending on the model used, all sharing a single SIM, so it's ideal for low volume use by multiple devices.

You can read more here. You can get a TP Link model on Amazon for about £75 that supports up to ten users.

One point I hadn't considered is that a MiFi device can also be used as a network extender. We can't get a signal on our phones when they are deep within our underground cave complex in Spain, yet with a MiFi device near the cave entrance this would give us Spanish 4G service.

TRACKING LOST PHONES WITH eSIM

On the same thread mentioned above, the valuable point is raised that if you use eSIM for your normal phone service, with a local SIM for Moroccan use, then should your phone be lost or stolen, the home SIM cannot be removed or taken out of service, so you are still able to track and potentially lock the phone should you be parted from it.

Avoid the SIM sellers at the port - loads of scams reported

Orange and Maroc Telecom both have app which let you check credit and top up by card. But the MT App will only allow Moroccan issued debit or credit cards. The app will also show your Moroccan number

No credit for over 6 months and the SIM will most likely be cancelled and you'll need a new one.

With both my android dual sim and my iphone the Moroccan Sim just needs activating, never needed to set anything up

Services like Airola are upto 10x more expensive than a Moroccan SIM

To add credit from a scratch card txt the number to 555 with *3 at the end for data.

Never needed passport or ID to get Orange or MT payg sims

If you have a dual sim, either physical or esim, then either sim can be switched of in the settings, as can data roaming, useful to avoid unwanted bills. You can also select which sim is used for calls and data

MT have the widest coverage but Orange isn't bad either, I've not tried INWI yet but noticed a few times there was a INWI signal in places I didn't have a MT one, including way out in the desert south of Mseid

INWI do an Unlimited data plan for 250dH and sometimes cheaper, needs setting up in the INWI shop and you pay up front.

At the Tanger Med port you can buy a sim but I suggest to don't buy a recharge from that guys. In april 23 we spent at the port 20 Eur for 20Gb of traffic, but was simply a loss of money, after two days, only 1 gig spent, but no more traffic available...

Prepaid sim calls only
 

Hello all I’m new to both Morocco and indeed this site, I have just found this site and the above post which has proven very accurate.

However I have a question perhaps someone can assist me with?

I have an old iPhone 8 for which I’ve purchased a data sim (30 days unlimited)
But I also have a very old vodaphone ..not smart …I used it for a pre paid sim just for texts and phone calls…when I was working.

Question : can I buy a simple Morocco 30 day phone and text only sim for it?

I like the option of phone calls in emergencies / breakdowns rather than rely on WhatsApp.


Ray

In Morocco I'm not sure it works by time (30 days) does it, it's how much credit you buy?

But if your question is can you buy a PAYG SIM for an old fashioned 'dumbphone', then I am pretty sure you can. I see people in the countryside still using these basic, non wi-fi phones, so they're still around. I used one myself until a couple of years ago for the same back-up reasons.

credit on payg sims is valid for different amounts of time depending how much you put on. 100dH credit is valid for 30 days

Thanks
 

Thanks for the replies, that’s given me the perfect answer, it is exactly for the old dumb phone…I have seen them used here also…so 100 dir is good enough.

Thanks guys

Ray

That may be true, but if you download an Airalo contract to your eSIM it's a whole lot easier than going through all the steps above for registering/topping up a local one. The charges still aren't high (certainly compared to roaming). Download offline maps in advance and if you're sparing with your data use outside wifi zones you won't spend much. Pricing example - 30 days/5GB, $31.50

Beware of using Airalo eSIM in Morocco (or any Orange SIM)

There have been some negative postings on Moroccan forums about Airalo eSIM, focusing on (1) the relatively high costs involved compared to purchasing a physical SIM or eSIM from a Moroccan mobile network operator and (2) the low amount of data included with the purchase necessitating further top ups.

But there's a far more serious problem with Airalo. Whilst it works ok in major cities such as Marrakech, Airalo coverage elsewhere is close to being non-existent, due to Airalo relying on the patchy Orange network for roaming.

So the short version of this post is to say DO NOT buy Airalo eSIM and DO NOT buy an Orange SIM in Morocco. For the longer version of this post, read on...

___________________________________________

We had two modern iPhones (15 and 13) with a variety of SIMs installed. My son-in-law had an IAM (Maroc Telecom) physical SIM installed, whilst initially I had Airalo eSIM and EE eSIM (EE is my UK home network). I later had to buy an Inwi physical SIM as the Airalo service was so poor.

The best way to show the Airalo problem is with the nperf network map of Morocco. On our first day we were travelling from Tabant in the Ait Bougmez valley over the High Atlas on the link to Alemdoun, then BouTharar. On the map linked above we were a bit to the west of the area marked with an altitude of 3338m.

As you can see there is no coverage. At one point we were 200m from a 4G mast and still I had no coverage—although my son-in-law had 4 bars of 4G on his IAM SIM, my Airalo SIM had zero reception. If I searched on the Airalo for networks, I could see Inwi and IAM (Maroc Telecom), but not Orange. But of course I couldn't connect to Inwi or IAM as Airalo doesn't have a roaming agreement with them.

I tested with my UK EE eSIM with the same result, though in this case I could successfully connect to IAM, but the Airalo eSIM only has roaming with the non-existent Orange network.

If you toggle the pull down menu on the map linked above and select Inwi, you will see the coverage in this area is reported to be much better than Orange (the area we were crossing is the link with the black (no coverage) section in the middle, though my son-in-law actually had Maroc Telecom (IAM) coverage the whole way.

So I had no coverage in Tabant, nothing in Bou Tharar, I had spotty coverage in Boumalne du Dades, but not higher up the Dades valley, nothing midway up the Todra, no coverage in Amellagou and nothing until Goulmina where I finally connected. In Merzouga I had 1 bar of Orange but no actual service. By then I had bought an Inwi SIM which worked marvellously.

I tested other places as we carried on but the results were always the same, either zero Orange reception or so slow as to be unusable.



This video taken in Telouet close to the main N9 route is a further example of zero Airalo/Orange coverage.

During this period I was hotspotting off my son-in-law's IAM connection to exchange emails with Airalo's so-called support line who totally ignored my suggestions as to why there was no service (abysmal Orange coverage) and instead gave me a series of tasks to perform including updating my iPhone with the latest software (already up-to-date), restarting the phone (already done, including a network reset), switching Airplane mode on and off, turning off VOLTE (doesn't exist on Airalo), and so on. These emails with lists of tasks continued over several days but as far as responding to the coverage issue, they effectively stuck their fingers in their ears and sang 'la la la' at the top of their voice.

Needless to say, a refund was refused.

So... you have been warned—DON'T USE AIRALO.