Wireless technologies constitute one of the niches that have a strong development potential in nationally in Morrocco as well as internationally. Based on this observation, Mr. Aziz Bouabe decided to invest into this segment and set up his own private company, FirstMile Telekom, operating around his expertise in integrating wireless-based solutions.

Mr. Bouabe, the founder and CEO of FirstMile Telekom, is a young Moroccan engineer (36 years old) who spent 18 years studying and working in the ICT field in Germany. Throughout his multiple trips to Morocco, he identified the adequacy of wireless connectivity for the local market – especially for the Southern provinces and rural areas which are vast and unpopulated territories, which makes it difficult and expensive to connect them through regular cabled technologies.

Having spent most of his working life in Germany, Mr. Bouabe decided to join the Business Incubation Unit at the Casablanca Technopark in order to receive the necessary market information, assistance in positioning his company and products, and best practices for addressing his market segments: Morocco, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

After assessing the products and services considered within the scope of FirstMile Telekom, the Mr. Bouab officially joined the Casablanca Technopark in February 2006 – after a pre-incubation period of less than a month. The company then graduated in April 2007, with a Venture Capitalist replacing the original capital investment made by Casablanca Technopark.

Aside from providing completely dedicated office space and assisting the company with Business and Marketing planning, the contribution of Casablanca Technopark consisted primarily of identifying market opportunities and helping find original positioning for FirstMile Telekom products.

In this respect, Casablanca Technopark worked on two main aspects that differentiated the company's products:

1. Trial and Per-bono work: the issue with newly established companies is being able to get new customers. They usually need minimum client reference in order to attract new ones and they need clients to constitute a reference base. Hence, the Technopark advised FirstMile Telekom to place its products for use and testing in some interesting sites which, ultimately, would help them communicate their products and provide interested parties with a hands-on approach on the products. This is how the first Moroccan University got Wireless and High-speed Internet access on-site. This initiative proved very successful and received the support of local authorities.

2. Establishment of the 'Wireless Factory': Wireless technologies require hardware components to run their applications. These are mostly provided by big manufacturers such as Cisco, etc. FirstMile Telekom's approach, with the help of Casablanca Technopark, consisted of exploring the possibility of producing local hardware. The realization of this project resulted from research activities involving partners from Germany and India. The components are imported and locally assembled inside the 'Wireless Factory' – located at the Casablanca Technopark. This approach was interesting in that it allowed FirstMile Telekom to offer quality products at affordable prices. It also helped the company master the timing for the assembly line and hence ensure time-efficient solutions.

FirstMile Telekom received the approval of ANRT (Local Telecommunications Regulating Agency) on three new products for both indoor and outdoor services. This is a first for a 100% Moroccan product in this segment of activity. These solutions are now entirely deployed and used by thousands of people on different reference sites: Moroccan collectivities (North, Center and South), Financial institutions (Morocco's first bank – AttijariWafa Bank), Universities (Public and private) and Multinational companies (Mercure Hotels, McDonald's, and VEOLIA water).

In 2007, FirstMile Telekom successfully raised funds in the amount of 2.5 million MAD (~USD 400,000) in compliance with its future development plans in international markets. As of May 2008, FirstMile Telekom was employing 25 permanent staff.

For further information please contact:
M. Aziz Bouabe, CEO, FirstMile Telekom
Email : aziz.bouabe@firstmiletelekom.ma