Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca

Programme Overview

National digital transformation agendas depend on reliable, high-capacity middle-mile infrastructure to connect underserved regions and lower wholesale transit costs. This five-day executive programme in Casablanca equips telecommunications authorities, line ministries, and project implementation units with the technical, commercial, and legal capabilities required to structure, procure, and supervise national optical fiber backbone projects. Participants study open-access governance principles to prevent digital monopolies and ensure non-discriminatory network utilisation.

Delegates examine institutional delivery mechanisms, comparing public-private partnership concessions, build-operate-transfer frameworks, and state-owned commercial wholesale vehicle structures. The curriculum details wholesale price-cap calculations, cost-plus tariffs, and long-term indefeasible rights of use agreements. Special attention is directed toward cross-border interconnections, backhaul network integration, and technical specifications compliant with International Telecommunication Union recommendations to ensure resilient, carrier-grade digital transport across national territories.

Through applied policy analysis, participants address regulatory enforcement, passive infrastructure sharing mandates, and streamlined right-of-way permitting across transportation corridors. The course delivers comprehensive guidance on drafting enforceable concession agreements, monitoring service level commitments, administering universal service interventions, and arbitrating wholesale interconnection disputes. Attendees conclude the week with operational toolkits designed to align public investments with international open-access principles and regional connectivity master plans.

Public investments in regional fiber-optic backbones have accelerated to address structural broadband deficits, highlighted by major operations such as the Burkina Faso Digital Acceleration Project. Executing these large-scale network procurements demands rigorous alignment with World Bank, AfDB, and international financing standards to guarantee transparency and open access. Without capable institutional governance, public middle-mile assets risk commercial under-utilisation, anticompetitive wholesale pricing, and prolonged dispute cycles between state entities and private telecommunications operators.

Delivered by Risalat Consultants International in Casablanca, Morocco, it combines expert-led sessions, real cases and group work, so that participants can apply what they learn in their own institution.

The Programme Strengthens Institutional Capability

• Regional backbone topologies, middle-mile interfaces, and ITU-T transmission standards
• Comparative ownership models: Public DBO, private consortium, and split-commercial PPP models
• Assessing national wholesale demand, dark fiber requirements, and lit capacity forecasting
• Institutional roles: Digital ministries, national regulatory agencies, and state asset companies
• Case study review: Evaluating structural separation and wholesale-only operator models
• Defining open access: Equivalence of inputs, non-discrimination, and structural transparency
• Wholesale tariff determination: Cost-plus, Long-Run Average Incremental Cost (LRAIC), and retail minus
• Drafting and enforcing Reference Interconnection Offers (RIO) and Reference Access Offers (RAO)
• Fraud risk assessment and fraud risk registers
• Design and testing of internal controls
• The Three Lines model and the role of oversight
• Audit planning, evidence and documentation

It is designed for telecommunications regulatory authority board members and legal analysts, digital economy and communications ministry policy planners, project implementation unit directors managing donor-funded digital infrastructure and others who want practical, current skills in fraud, audit and internal control.

The Growing Importance of Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca

Public bodies and donor-financed projects are expected to show that funds are used for their intended purpose. Auditors, oversight bodies and financiers increasingly look beyond the financial statements to the controls, records and behaviours behind them.

Fraud and control weaknesses rarely come from one failure. They grow where roles are unclear, records are incomplete and warning signs are not followed up. Teams that understand how fraud happens, and how controls stop it, protect both their institution and the people it serves.

Organisations increasingly require professionals capable of:

• Identify and rate fraud and control risks in their own processes
• Design controls that are proportionate and testable
• Gather and document reliable audit evidence
• Recognise red flags early and escalate them correctly
• Turn findings into practical, agreed actions

Strong fraud, audit and internal control systems help organisations:

• Reduce losses and ineligible expenditure
• Pass external audits with fewer findings
• Strengthen trust with financiers and citizens
• Respond to allegations in a fair and documented way

This Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca programme brings these elements together in a practical format, so that participants understand not only what good practice looks like but also how to introduce it in their own setting, with the people and resources they have.

Who Should Attend This Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Training?

This programme is designed for:

• Telecommunications regulatory authority board members and legal analysts
• Digital economy and communications ministry policy planners
• Project implementation unit directors managing donor-funded digital infrastructure
• Public procurement specialists structuring broadband concessions
• Universal service fund managers and technical supervisors
• State infrastructure agencies coordinating transport and utility corridors
• Public-private partnership unit transaction advisors
• Wholesale telecommunications enterprise executives and commercial managers
• State legal advisors drafting utility concession agreements
• Internal auditors and audit managers
• Finance managers and accountants
• Compliance and risk officers

The programme suits experienced professionals as well as those moving into new responsibilities. Groups that mix institutions and countries are encouraged, because participants learn a great deal from each other’s experience.

Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Training Objectives

Upon successful completion of this Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Training, participants will be able to:

• Evaluate structural models for national fiber-optic backbone deployments, including public-private partnership concessions, private consortia, and wholesale state-owned enterprises
• Structure non-discriminatory, open-access regulatory regimes incorporating cost-oriented wholesale bandwidth tariffs and reference access offers
• Design robust right-of-way frameworks and coordinated civil engineering procedures alongside transport and energy utilities
• Formulate public tender documentation, evaluation criteria, and contract conditions for middle-mile network construction and commercial operation
• Establish key performance indicators and technical service level agreements in accordance with International Telecommunication Union standards
• Manage Universal Service Fund subsidy allocations to stimulate backbone extensions into non-commercial secondary and tertiary nodes
• Apply structured dispute resolution mechanisms to mitigate wholesale access denials, anti-competitive margin squeeze, and capacity allocation disputes
• Explain how and why fraud happens, using recognised fraud risk models
• Carry out a fraud and control risk assessment for a real process
• Map controls to risks using the Three Lines model

Each objective is practised during the programme through exercises, cases or group work, so that participants leave able to do it, not only to describe it.

Programme Contents and Structure

Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Training Methodology

The programme combines technical masterclasses, comparative legal analysis, and hands-on procurement simulation exercises. Participants analyse real-world anonymised concession agreements, tariff models, and regulatory rulings from African middle-mile deployments. Daily working groups evaluate concrete project challenges, engaging in drafting access terms, testing tariff sensitivity, and debating regulatory dispute resolutions to ensure immediate applicability to public-sector digital infrastructure portfolios.

The programme combines:

• Expert-led sessions on current practice
• Regional and international case studies
• Group work and practical exercises
• Simulations and role plays where relevant
• Discussion of participants' own challenges
• Peer learning across institutions and countries
• Practical tools and templates to take back to work
• Daily reflection and action planning

Before the programme, a short pre-assessment helps the facilitators understand each participant’s role and priorities, so that examples and exercises can be adjusted to the group. Each day ends with a short reflection in which participants note what they will apply at work.

Expected Outcomes

Upon completion of this Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Training, participants will be able to:

• Appraise and select optimal commercial deployment structures for national fiber backbones aligned with multilateral development bank standards
• Formulate rigorous Reference Access Offers and non-discriminatory pricing regimes that prevent wholesale market distortions
• Draft bankable concession agreements, technical performance specifications, and balanced risk-sharing frameworks
• Coordinate cross-sectoral right-of-way permitting and passive infrastructure sharing to lower civil engineering capital expenditure
• Oversee universal service financing mechanisms to subsidise viable middle-mile access in peripheral territories
• Enforce wholesale service level agreements and adjudicate regulatory disputes using structured arbitration protocols
• Assess fraud and control risks in their own processes
• Design and test proportionate controls

Participants leave with a personal action plan and practical tools they can use in their institution from the first week back. Institutions that send several participants can use the programme to agree shared methods and templates across teams, which makes improvements easier to sustain.

Institutional Application of Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Training

This programme supports organisations in strengthening:

• Fraud and corruption risk management
• Internal control frameworks
• Audit and oversight arrangements
• Follow-up of audit findings
• Integrity and reporting channels

Participants return with practical tools to improve:

• Risk registers and control maps
• Audit planning and testing
• Evidence and documentation
• Reporting to management and boards
• Prevention of ineligible expenditure

The programme is built so that learning moves from the classroom into the institution. Participants work on their own processes and documents where possible, and leave with an action plan that their managers can review and support.

Regional Relevance & Application

Europe

European institutions apply fraud, audit and internal control within detailed regulatory frameworks and reform agendas. Participants from Europe can compare their practice with colleagues from other regions and test how established methods work under different conditions.

Africa

Across Africa, ministries, agencies and project teams working in fraud, audit and internal control increasingly operate alongside donor-financed programmes that expect clear systems and evidence. The programme helps participants adapt good practice to the institutions and resources they work with.

Middle East

In the Middle East, national development strategies and diversification plans place growing demands on fraud, audit and internal control. Participants explore how to build the capability these plans need inside public bodies and companies.

Asia

Institutions across Asia combine rapid growth with ambitious modernisation programmes. Participants from Asia can share their experience of scaling systems quickly and learn from approaches used elsewhere.

Pacific

Small island and Pacific states face particular constraints of size, distance and capacity. The programme highlights practical, proportionate approaches to fraud, audit and internal control that suit smaller institutions.

Holding the programme in Casablanca, Morocco brings participants together away from their daily pressures, so they can compare how fraud, audit and internal control is handled in different settings. The same programme can also be delivered in-house for one institution, in its own country or online, with cases taken from its current work.

Host Country Profile – Morocco

Training programmes and study tours in Casablanca suit government officials, project teams and professionals focusing on international trade, maritime transport, banking and regional economic development.

Studying away from their own country gives participants time to focus, a fresh view of their own institution and the chance to build a network with colleagues from other countries.

Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Training Deliverables

Participants receive support before, during and after the programme, so that preparation, learning and follow-up form one continuous experience.

Before the Programme

• Participant Pre-Assessment
• Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Readiness Assessment
• Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Resource Pack
• Preparatory Reading Materials
• Complimentary Visa Support & Advisory

During the Programme

• Airport Pickup & Welcome Assistance
• Accommodation with Breakfast
• Welcome Networking Dinner
• Risalat Training Kit (Bag, Bottle, Mug, T-Shirt, Cap, Passport Cover, Pens, Notebook, Magnet & Keychain)
• Comprehensive Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca Training Manual
• Fraud Risk Register Template
• Control Mapping Matrix
• Audit Evidence Checklist
• Findings and Follow-up Tracker
• Practical Workshops & Simulations
• Group Discussions & Peer Learning
• Daily Lunch and Refreshments
• Full Access to Training Venue Facilities
• Mini Pad / Tablet with Digital Learning Materials
• Field Visit (where applicable)
• Entertaining City Tour

After the Programme

• Certificate of Completion
• Risalat Programme Participation Recognition Award
• Post-Training Reference Materials
• Fraud Risk Self-Assessment Guide
• Control Testing Checklist
• Post-Training Support & Follow-Up Guidance
• Programme Report

Institutions can also request a tailored in-house version of this programme, delivered at their premises or online. Request a proposal.

Common Challenges in Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca, And How This Training Helps

How can institutions identify and rate fraud and control risks in their own processes?

The programme addresses this directly on the first day (Day 1: Fiber Backbone Architecture, Market Structures, and Deployment Models), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions design controls that are proportionate and testable?

The programme addresses this directly on the second day (Day 2: Open-Access Principles, Cost Modelling, and Wholesale Tariff Regulation), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions gather and document reliable audit evidence?

The programme addresses this directly on the third day (Day 3: Concession Contracting, Risk Allocation, and Procurement Standards), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions recognise red flags early and escalate them correctly?

The programme addresses this directly on the fourth day (Day 4: Passive Infrastructure Sharing, Rights-of-Way, and Universal Access Funds), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions turn findings into practical, agreed actions?

The programme addresses this directly on the fifth day (Day 5: Network Monitoring, SLA Enforcement, and Dispute Arbitration), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where does the Public Sector Fiber Backbone Contracting and Open Access Regulation in Casablanca programme take place?

It runs from 1 Mar 2027 to 5 Mar 2027, in Casablanca, Morocco. The registration deadline is shown at the top of this page.

Who should attend?

The programme is designed for telecommunications regulatory authority board members and legal analysts, digital economy and communications ministry policy planners, project implementation unit directors managing donor-funded digital infrastructure, public procurement specialists structuring broadband concessions, and others who want practical skills in fraud, audit and internal control.

Will I receive a certificate?

Yes. Participants who complete the programme receive a Certificate of Completion from Risalat Consultants International.

Can this programme be delivered for our institution only?

Yes. We can deliver a tailored in-house version at your premises, in another city or online, built around your own cases. Use the proposal request on this page.

Do I need prior experience in fraud, audit and internal control?

No specialist background is required beyond experience in a related role. A short pre-assessment helps the facilitators adapt the sessions to the group.

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