Ait Bouguemez villages get new cell tower after months of protests, offering partial network relief

The Ait Bouguemez villages in Azilal province received a new cell tower in Douar Ait Imi, the central area, to improve network coverage.

This comes after more than two months of local protests demanding better telecommunications infrastructure, alongside other basic needs.

Hassan Laakoun, a local activist, confirmed to Hespress English that the construction of the cell tower has just been completed, with work having started ten days after the Boukmaz march.

The goal was to improve coverage in the central area and reach surrounding villages that previously had no network coverage. In some villages, he said, “this has been achieved, while in others it has not.”

But testing of the new cell tower is still ongoing, Laakoun added, and the signal remains unstable even after the tower became operational.

He explained that a Moroccan company had planned a telecom tower in the area five years before the Ait Boukmaz march, but its construction was repeatedly delayed for various reasons.

With this new cell tower, the area now has three towers, one in Douar Timit and another in Tizi Targhit.

But the problem, according to the local activist, is that the old towers never provided full coverage to the area, resulting in weak signals.

“This affected essential needs like money transfers, administrative tasks, and remote learning during the COVID period,” he said.

The activist claimed that the old towers were of low quality, and residents are requesting equipment upgrades to improve internet coverage.

Overall, he said that there has been noticeable improvement. “Internet access and the ability to download videos have improved, though the desired connection quality has not yet been fully achieved.”

Yet some other villages still don’t have network coverage, including Douar Arbat, where the telecom tower was built right in front of, he concluded.