GENIE is served by four operators, three of which are terrestrial: MT, Meditel, and INWI, and one satellite (VSAT), Nortis. Nearly half of the schools (4,712) use satellite access because they lack quality terrestrial coverage.
Nortis was the first operator to initiate and complete the third phase, GENIE 3, developed in 2015, which connected a total of 4,000 schools via satellite. In addition to internet access, GENIE provides the necessary computer equipment for students' work.
Nortis' role has been crucial, since almost half of the schools included in GENIE had no possibility of accessing the Internet through conventional operators because they were located in rural or hard-to-reach areas where deploying cable networks is very complicated and expensive.
The goal of GENIE is to improve the Moroccan education system and make the full potential of the internet available to students, eliminating access barriers and fostering a digital society.
“We were the first of the four winning bidders to complete the project, and this success reinforces the position of our subsidiary Nortis as a leading satellite service provider in Morocco,” says Aquilino Antuña, CEO of Quantis Global. “This project is a giant leap forward in our ‘Internet for All’ initiative, which aims to provide universal internet access to all Moroccan citizens and eliminate the digital divide in the country.”
The GENIE project has three phases. The first began in 2009 when the Moroccan Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) awarded Nortis the contract to connect 600 schools via satellite, out of a total of 2,000 schools included in this phase. The second phase was launched in 2011, connecting a total of 400 schools, 112 of which have satellite internet access through Nortis. The third phase envisions connecting 7,854 new schools to the internet, 4,000 of which already have satellite access through Nortis.
“With this new contract, Nortis has positioned itself as GENIE’s main telecommunications operator, having carried out almost 50% of the total internet connections included in the project,” says Anas Zemmouri, CEO of Nortis. “Internet access has become a differentiating factor for students in schools,” Zemmouri adds, “and not all schools can access the internet through conventional operators. This is where satellite comes in, a technology that allows for a high-quality connection anywhere in the country.”
According to Zemmouri, the GENIE project will eliminate the territorial disparities between schools with and without internet access. “Thanks to GENIE,” the CEO of Nortis continues, “most Moroccan schoolchildren have access to the internet, with similar levels of quality, anywhere in the country, which, in the short term, will have a very positive effect on the country’s education system.”
How Satellite Internet Works:
Satellite internet uses a small parabolic antenna, similar in size to those used for television, and a router similar to those used for cable connections. Because it's a satellite signal, access is guaranteed anywhere in the country. The 4,000 schools in the final phase of the GENIE project, which Nortis will connect, will have upload bandwidth of up to 20 megabits per second.
