Here is the datA

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4282642895_d7ecc1c42a_o.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2697/4282642861_50c7a48349_o.jpg


from http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/01/13/4569627.htm

This is a 2009 data that states the slowest internet access is in the above countries. However the data doesn't specify internet availability per Capita, for that see below.

# 202 Ethiopia: 3.803 per 1,000 people
# 203 Congo, 3.504 per 1,000 people
# 204 Bangladesh: 3.323 per 1,000 people
# 205 Central African Republic:3.174 per 1,000 people
# 206 Tajikistan: 2.977 per 1,000 people
# 207 Niger: 2.775 per 1,000 people
# 208 Sierra Leone: 2.116 per 1,000 people
# 209 Iraq: 1.964 per 1,000 people
# 210 East Timor: 1.166 per 1,000 people
# 211 Burma: 0.844 per 1,000 people

This is mostly a Year 2007 data at
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/int_use_percap-internet-users-per-capita

So in summary, Ethiopia is in both lists, the slowest and the least covered in the world.

Just in case you did not notice, Ethiopia is the only country in both lists, making it the very worst, dead last, in the world when it comes to internet access.

Internet access is not only extremely slow in the world, its the hardest to find in the world, whatever slow access is available.

Sorry for being the bearer of bad news, I tell you this so that you can share my pain.

ክቡራትና ክቡራን ኢትዮጵያን
እዩልኝ ስሙልኝ ጭንቀት ስቆቃዬን
ወሎ ተርቦ እኒዲያ ሲያልቅ
ታውሮ ነበር ነገር እንዳያቅ

Internet access is specially essential in poor countries. Its specially needed in the rural areas where communication or the lack of it is oppressive.

I remember very vividly, the PM Meles went public and announced that Ethiopia will be one of the most covered countries in Africa, little did he know he was dealing with a rotten corporation called ETC.
Here we are after close to 6 years since then Ethiopia still suffers from a bad bad access to information

It is clearly obvious that ETC is the worst government institution in Ethiopia and the world ( period). The funny thing is they are not even pretending to do something about it, nothing at all. A small private company can do what they haven't been able to do for ever in less than 10 years.
On the flip side, Ethiopia's economy has been growing for the past 5 years at a very good rate without any help from the ETC, so just imagine how much the economy will be transformed when either a) After the election, there is more representation of opposition party members in the parliament or b) we elect a brand new party and leader into power, one that is patriotic, pragmatic and economically more liberal that this pseudo democratic leadership we got going on for 2 decades now. or c) [ this one is wishful thinking, but hey never say never, right?] making ETC more open to the private sector or completely replacing the Executive board of ETC by experienced, effective leaders from other institutions including foreign companies to handle the management of this failed institution.
There was a story I found a few weeks ago about the government trying to give the management responsibilities of ETC to a foreign company under the ownership of the government, but I don't believe it until I see it.
Here is the link of the story, it sounds more to be like a rumor than anything else, but here you go.

http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10424:tele-to-liberalise&catid=12:local-news&Itemid=4

[ FYI: I made a mistake about replacement of management, its more like running the day to day operations ]

Internet access is specially essential in poor countries. Its specially needed in the rural areas where communication or the lack of it is oppressive.

I remember very vividly, the PM Meles went public and announced that Ethiopia will be one of the most covered countries in Africa, little did he know he was dealing with a rotten corporation called ETC.
Here we are after close to 6 years since then Ethiopia still suffers from a bad bad access to information

I am sorry but you seem to think that Meles wants more coverage but that the corporation was corrupt, I am sorry I completely disagree. I believe coverage of information is not his or his administration's top priority, if it was believe me he would get it DONE. Imagine you were in his position what would have done after being in office for 2 decades? ... at least cover half of the country, that is if you are doing a lousy job of governing. Meles's ( or I should say TPLF's) main economic principle is agricultural led development, we all know this and we have heard time and time again.
So, my point is the leadership IS NOT INTERESTED in expanding coverage. For those of us who have travelled outside of Addis Ababa, we know how scared the government is about access to information, whether it be newspapers, TV, radio, internet, phone communications .... everything is censored.
The situation of ETC is something that bugs me every time I think about Ethiopia, as bad as everything is, ETC is just on a different level that any other institution in the country. The problem with this government is unless they think something is good and needs our priority they wont do it, whether the people want it or not. They are very good in executing a project which they think is important, for example, road projects and hydroelectric projects; they have done more construction of these two things in the past 5 years than any other Ethiopian government has done combined so far. But, they have completely ignored other sectors, especially REFORMING F****** ETC, a complete and utter failure of epic proportions. I am sorry, it is just unacceptable in the 21st century for us to not have the option of providing a high speed internet, and cell phones, plain bullshit is what it is.
If I was the leader, the very first thing I would do is the complete re-structuring of ETC and open it up for private companies, because if we wont do what is takes someone else will.

FYI: I am neither a supporter nor an opposition of EPRDF, but a mere observer, I don't playing OLD politics when we have real problems to deal with.

FYI: I am neither a supporter nor an opposition of EPRDF, but a mere observer, I don't playing OLD politics when we have real problems to deal with.

Thanx for sharing my pain. I needed to get that off my chest. I feel so terrible and suffocated about this issue. Its nice to know someone out there feels the same way. I know its not fair to you but I have to be selfish on this because the pain I feel is unbearable.

I am hoping the opposition will make of this an issue of political contention. ETC and ETV both are about access to information. They should make this a campaign issue.

As you said though, keeping rural people ignorant is a political capital for the government, assuming they have calculated those in the rural regions care about their daily bread rather than internet access. However internet and airwaves access is not a matter of luxury. This is what the opposition need to hit home within the broad masses. Information is power. In fact this should be the moto of the opposition. They could at least hurt the government some so that it will learn to be careful in the coming years.

Should we send this as a suggestion to the opposition?

I am hoping the opposition will make of this an issue of political contention. ETC and ETV both are about access to information. They should make this a campaign issue.

As you said though, keeping rural people ignorant is a political capital for the government, assuming they have calculated those in the rural regions care about their daily bread rather than internet access. However internet and airwaves access is not a matter of luxury. This is what the opposition need to hit home within the broad masses. Information is power. In fact this should be the moto of the opposition. They could at least hurt the government some so that it will learn to be careful in the coming years.

Should we send this as a suggestion to the opposition?

Honestly, even the opposition except for few leaders, most of them are not that different from the current regime. They are all part of the old gang, I don't see them as being the charismatic, energetic, and innovative leaders I envision Ethiopia to have. We need new blood in the leadership, but it will take at least a decade before we can get rid of the "Exit generation" as I like to call them. I have listened to a few of their slogans, and heard them chanting this and that, I never head them mention anything about access to information. They know it doesn't exist but they are not eloquent enough to express their ideologies in a clear and logical way, unfortunately.
But, that being said if you can find someone to listen to you, it will definitely hit home.

To wic@waltainfo.com, horn@voanews.com, info@dw-world.de
CC etcweb@ethionet.et

subject- How bad is ETC (የኢትዮጵያ ቴለኮሚዮኒኬሽን መጥፎነት ደረጃ )

Hello to everyone. Please address this to the Amharic departments of your centers.


ጤና ይስጥልኝ ከቡራትና ክቡራን ኢትዮጵያውያን። ከዚሀ ቀጥሎ የምታዮት በውሂብ የተደገፈ ዘገባ እናንተን ኢትዮጵያውያንን በተስማራችሁበት የመረጃ ማሰራጫ ተግባር ይህንን ጉዳይ እልባት ለማስገኘት የምትችሉትን ሚና እንድትጫወቱ የሚጋብዘ ጥሪ ነው።

ብዙዎቻችን ስለኢትዮጵያ ጉዳይ የምንጨነቅ ማሳዳውያን ሰለ ኢትዮጵያ ቴለኮሙኒኬሽን የብቃት መጠን ማነስ የምናውቀው ቢሆንም፣ በያለንበት ሆነን መሻሻል እንዲታይ፣ እንዲዘገብ መመኘታችን አልቀርም። ዳሩ ግን፣ ከድጡ ወደ ማጡ እንዲሉ የዚህ ባለሥልጣን መ/ቤት የስራ ውጤት ደረጃው እያሽቆለቆለ ነው የሄደው።

ከዚህ ኢ-መልእክት ጋር የተያያዘውን ዶሴ እና ከዝህ ታች በተራ-ቁ 2 ላይ የተዘረዘረውን ተመልከቱ።

1. የተያያዘው ዶሴ፣ ማለትም slowctries.JPG የተባለው ዶሴ http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/01/13/4569627.htm ከተባለ መካነ-ደር የተወሰድ ነው። የህ በ 2009 እኤአ የተዘገበ መረጃ ነው

2. እንዲሁም ይህንን ተመልከቱ
# 202 Ethiopia: 3.803 per 1,000 people
# 203 Congo, 3.504 per 1,000 people
# 204 Bangladesh: 3.323 per 1,000 people
# 205 Central African Republic:3.174 per 1,000 people
# 206 Tajikistan: 2.977 per 1,000 people
# 207 Niger: 2.775 per 1,000 people
# 208 Sierra Leone: 2.116 per 1,000 people
# 209 Iraq: 1.964 per 1,000 people
# 210 East Timor: 1.166 per 1,000 people
# 211 Burma: 0.844 per 1,000 people

ይህ ከላይ የምታዩት የጥናት ዝርዝር http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/in...ers-per-capita ከሚባል መካነ-ደር የተወሰደ ነው። ይህ በ 2007 እኤአ የተዘገበ መረጃ ነው።


slowctries.JPG የተባለው ዶሴ የሚያሳየው በአለም ላይ በጣም ዳተኛ የአለም-መረባዊ ግንኙነት ያላቸውን ሃገራት የሚዘረዝር ሲሆን፣ ኢትዮጵያ እንደምታዩት ከአለም ከመጨራሻ 9ነኛ ደረጃ ይዛለች። ይህ የዳተኛ ወይንም ቀርፋፋ የአለም መረብ ይዘት ያላቸውን ሃገራት የሚያሳይ ነው። ሆኖም ግን ይህ ዳተኛ ቅጥያ ራሱ ምን ያህል ስርጭት እንዳለው ለማየት ካላይ ተራ-ቁ 2 ላይ የተዘረዘረውን የጥናት ውሂብ ተመልከቱ።

ይህ ዝርዝር የሚያሳይው መንድን ነው፣ ባለው ህዝብ ብዛት መጠን አንፃር ሲለካ የትኞቹ ሃገራት አናሳ የመረብ ቅጥያ ወይንም መገናኛ እንዳላቸው ይገልፃል። እንደምታዩት ኢትዮጵያ በ 202 ኛ ደረጃ ላይ ትገኛለች።

ልብ እንድትሉ፣ ከሁለቱ ዝርዝሮች ኢትዮጵያ ብቻ ናት ተመዝግባ የምትገኘው። ይህ ማለት፣ ኢትዮጵያ በአለም ላይ የመጨራሻው ቀርፋፋ ቅጥያ ያለባት ሃገር ስትሆን፣ ኢንዲሁም የመረብ ቅጥያ ጭራሹን ለማግኘት የሚያስቸግርባት ሃገር ናት። ማለት እድግዲህ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የመረብ ቅጥያ ማግኘት በጣም አስቸጋሪ ነው፣ ቢገኝም እጅግ ቀርፋፋ ነው።

አስታውሳለሁ በ 2005 እንደ አውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር፣ ጠ/ም መለስ ከአደባባይ ቀርበው ኢትዮጵያ፣ በ 5 አመታት ውስጥ ከአፍሪካ ውስጥ ፈጣን የመረብ ቅጥያ ከሚገኝባቸው ሃገሮች አንዷ ትሆናለች ብለው ተናገርው ነበር። እነሆ ከ 6 አመታት በኋላ ኢትዮጵያ በዚህ ረገድ አዘቅት ውስጥ ተገኛለች።

ስለዚህ አሁን ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በሚደረገው ሥነ-መንግስታዊ የሥልጣን ውድድር ወቅት ይህ ጉዳይ እንደ አንድ አብይ ነጥብ ተወስዶ ክርክርና፣ ግሳፄ እንዲደረግበት የተቻላቸሁን እንድታደርጉ ጥሪ እናደርጋለሁ። የባለሥልጣኑ ፓርቲና ተቋዋሚዎች ይህ ለምን እስከ አሁን እንዳልተቀረፈና ወደፊት ምን ለማድረግና በምን ያህል ፍጥነት ቸግሩን ለመፍታት እንችላለን እንደሚሉ ለህዝብ እንዲያስታውቁ ታደርጉ ዘንድ ጥሪ እናደርጋለሁ።

በነገራችን ላይ ስለዚሁ ጉዳይና ስለጠቅላላው የኢትዮጵያ ጭብጣዊ ይዘት የምንነጋገርበት ድረ-ገፅ እነሆ
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=50292327#post50292327

ሰላም ለሁላችሁ ኢትዮጵያውያኖች
መልካም ግዜ

To wic@waltainfo.com, horn@voanews.com, info@dw-world.de
CC etcweb@ethionet.et

subject- How bad is ETC (የኢትዮጵያ ቴለኮሚዮኒኬሽን መጥፎነት ደረጃ )

Hello to everyone. Please address this to the Amharic departments of your centers.


ጤና ይስጥልኝ ከቡራትና ክቡራን ኢትዮጵያውያን። ከዚሀ ቀጥሎ የምታዮት በውሂብ የተደገፈ ማመልከቻ እናንተን ኢትዮጵያውያንን በተስማራችሁበት የመረጃ ማሰራጫ ተግባር ይህንን ጉዳይ እልባት ለማስገኘት የምትችሉት ሚና እንድትጫወቱ የሚጋብዘ ጥሪ ነው።

እንደምታውቁት ብዙዎቻችን ስለኢትዮጵያ ጉዳይ የምንጨነቅ ማሳዳውያን ሰለ ኢትዮጵያ ቴለኮሙኒኬሽን የብቃት ደረጃ ማነስ የምናውቀው ቢሆንም፣ በያለንበት መሻሻል እንዲታይ፣ እንዲዘገብ መመኘታችን አልቀርም። ዳሩ ግን፣ ከድጡ ወደ ማጡ እንዲሉ የዚህ ባለሥልጣን መ/ቤት የስራ ውጤት ደረጃው እያሽቆለቆለ ነው የሄደው።

ከዚህ ኢ-መልእክት የተያያዘውና ዶሴና ከዝህ ታች በተራ-ቁ 2 ላይ የተዘረዘረውን ተመልከቱ።

1. የተያያዘው ዶሴ፣ ማለትም slowctries.JPG የተባለው ዶሴ http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/01/13/4569627.htm ከተባለ መካነ-ደር የተወሰድ ነው። የህ በ 2009 እኤአ የተዘገበ መረጃ ነው

2. እንዲሁም ይህንን ተመልከቱ
# 202 Ethiopia: 3.803 per 1,000 people
# 203 Congo, 3.504 per 1,000 people
# 204 Bangladesh: 3.323 per 1,000 people
# 205 Central African Republic:3.174 per 1,000 people
# 206 Tajikistan: 2.977 per 1,000 people
# 207 Niger: 2.775 per 1,000 people
# 208 Sierra Leone: 2.116 per 1,000 people
# 209 Iraq: 1.964 per 1,000 people
# 210 East Timor: 1.166 per 1,000 people
# 211 Burma: 0.844 per 1,000 people

ይህ ከላይ የምታዩት የጥናት ዝርዝር http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/in...ers-per-capita ከሚባል መካነ-ደር የተወሰደ ነው። ይህ በ 2007 እኤአ የተዘገበ መረጃ ነው።


slowctries.JPG የተባለው ዶሴ የሚያሳየው በአለም ላይ በጣም ዳተኛ የአለም-መረባዊ ግንኙነት ያላቸውን ሃገራት የሚዘረዝር ሲሆን፣ ኢትዮጵያ እንደምታዩት ከአለም ከመጨራሻ 9ነኛ ደረጃ ይዛለች። ይህ የዳተኛ ወይንም ቀርፋፋ የአለም መረብ ይዘት ያላቸውን ሃገራት የሚያሳይ ነው። ሆኖም ግን ይህ ዳተኛ ቅጥያ ራሱ ምን ያህል ስርጭት እንዳለው ለማየት ካላይ ተራ-ቁ 2 ላይ የተዘረዘረውን የጥናት ውሂብ ተመልከቱ።

ይህ ዝርዝር የሚያሳይው መንድን ነው፣ ባለው ህዝብ ብዛት መጠን አንፃር ሲለካ የትኞቹ ሃገራት አናሳ የመረብ ቅጥያ ወይንም መገናኛ እንዳላቸው ይገልፃል። እንደምታዩት ኢትዮጵያ በ 202 ኛ ደረጃ ላይ ትገኛለች።

ልብ እንድትሉ፣ ከሁለቱ ዝርዝሮች ኢትዮጵያ ብቻ ናት ተመዝግባ የምትገኘው። ይህ ማለት፣ ኢትዮጵያ በአለም ላይ የመጨራሻው ቀርፋፋ ቅጥያ ያለባት ሃገር ስትሆን፣ ኢንዲሁም የመጨረሻዋ የመረብ ቅጥያ ጭራሹን ለማግኘት የሚያስቸግርባት ሃገር ናት። ማለት እድግዲህ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የመረብ ቅጥያ ማግኘት በጣም አስቸጋሪ ነው፣ ቢገኝም እጅግ ቀርፋፋ ነው።

አስታውሳለሁ በ 2005 እንደ አውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር፣ ጠ/ም መለስ ከህዝብ ፊት ኢትዮጵያ፣ በ 5 አመታት ውስጥ ከአፍሪካ ውስጥ ፈጣን የመረብ ቅጥያ ከሚገኝባቸው ሃገሮች አንዷ ትሆናለች ብለው ተናገርው ነበር። እነሆ ከ 6 አመታት በኋላ ኢትዮጵያ በዚህ ረገድ አዘቅት ውስጥ ተገኛለች።

ስለዚህ አሁን ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በሚደረገው ሥነ-መንግስታዊ የሥልጣን ውድድር ወቅት ይህ ጉዳይ እንደ አንድ አብይ ነጥብ ተወስዶ ክርክርና፣ ግሳፄ እንዲደረግበት የተቻላቸሁን እንድታደርጉ ጥሪ እናደርጋለሁ። የባለሥልጣኑ ፓርቲና ተቋዋሚዎች ይህ ለምን እስከ አሁን እንዳልተቀረፈና ወደፊት ምን ለማድረግና በምን ያህል ፍጥነት ቸግሩን ለመፍታት እንችላለን እንደሚሉ ለህዝብ እንዲያስታውቁ ታደርጉ ዘንድ ጥሪ እናደርጋለሁ።

በነገራችን ላይ ስለዚሁ ጉዳይና ስለጠቅላላው የኢትዮጵያ ጭብጣዊ ይዘት የምንነጋገርበት ድረ-ገፅ እነሆ
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=50292327#post50292327

ሰላም ለሁላችሁ ኢትዮጵያውያኖች
መልካም ግዜ

Thats some good stuff. እነ እንደዘ አድርገ መሳፍ አልችለም ይሀን ለመሳፍ የወሰደብህ ግዘ ምን ያሀል እንደሆነ ማወክ እፈልጋለሁ። ዞሮ ዞሮ እዘህ ላይ ያስከመትከዉን አበት ብሎ የመሰማን ሰው በናገን በታም ደስ ይለን ነበር ገን በዙም ተስፋ የለንም። ለ ሙከራሀ ግን :applause::applause:

Thats some good stuff. እነ እንደዘ አድርገ መሳፍ አልችለም ይሀን ለመሳፍ የወሰደብህ ግዘ ምን ያሀል እንደሆነ ማወክ እፈልጋለሁ። ዞሮ ዞሮ እዘህ ላይ ያስከመትከዉን አበት ብሎ የመሰማን ሰው በናገን በታም ደስ ይለን ነበር ገን በዙም ተስፋ የለንም። ለ ሙከራሀ ግን :applause::applause:

የምታየውን ፅሁፍ ለማዘጋጀት ወደ ግማሽ ሰዓት ወስዶብኛል። አማርኛ ለመጻፍ የሚወስድብኝ ግዜ እንግሊዝኛ ለመፃፍ ከሚወስድብኝ ግዜ ጋር የተመሳሰለ ነው። እነሆ በአማርኛ መፃፍ ከጀመርኩ ወደ 4 አመታት ሆነኝ፣ ስለዚህ ልምዱ ካለ ፍጥነት ይከተላል።

በነገራችን ላይ "ሃምስ" የተባለው ወረድ ሥር የሉትን ሆሄያት ለምፃፍ እንደተቸገርክ አያለሁ። ኪይማን የምትጠቀም ከሆነ፣ የመረጃውን ፋይል ልልክልህ እችላለሁ።
እነ እንደዘ አድርገ መሳፍ አልችለም == እኔ እንደዚህ አድርጌ መፃፍ አልችልም

አዎን ሙከራ ብቻ ነው የያዝኩት። ነገር ግን ቢያንስ ቢያንስ አንድ ሰው መልስ ሊሰጠኝ ይችላል። እንዲያ ከሆነ እንደ ትልቅ እመርታ አየዋለሁ። የምታየውን መልእክት ለሁሉም ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች ለመላክ ሃሳብ አለኝ። አድራሻ እየሰበሰብኩ ነው።

I am not surprised. I've tried Internet Cafés in Addis Ababa and I couldn't even check my Gmail. I am actually more suprised that Rwanda is almost as bad.

Is Ethiopia even connected with a fiber optic lines or is all the traffic still going trough slow exepensive satellites?

I think that it is connected to SEACOM but I'm not sure. There are articles in Sunday's papers about SEACOM and EASSy representatives coming to Addis to talk to the gov. The articles are not updated yet. Should be up tomorrow.

Even Djibouti is connected to SEACOM (according to their website), as well as all other East African countries, except for Ethiopia and Eritrea.

"Ethiopia has the second lowest Internet penetration rate in sub-Saharan Africa (only Sierra Leone’s is lower) and is currently attempting a broad expansion of access throughout the country. These efforts have been hampered by the largely rural makeup of the Ethiopian population and the government’s refusal to permit any privatization of the telecommunications market. Only 360,000 people had Internet access in June 2009, a penetration rate of 0.4 percent.24 The state-owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation is the sole Internet service provider (ISP) in the country. Internet cafés are the main source of access in urban areas, and an active community of bloggers and online journalists now plays an important role in offering alternative news sources and venues for political dialogue. However, three-quarters of the country’s Internet cafés are in the capital city, and even there access is often slow and unreliable.25 A test conducted by a Media Ethiopia researcher in July 2007 determined that the average connectivity speed was 5 KBps and that Internet service in most cafés was down between 10 and 20 percent of the time.26

In 2005, Ethiopia announced plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next three years to connect all of the country’s schools, hospitals, and government offices, and most of its rural population, to broadband Internet via satellite or fiber-optic cable.27 Between 2005 and 2007, the government spent USD40 million to install WoredaNET and SchoolNET, two nationwide networks meant to increase connectivity.28 WoredaNET provides e-mail, videoconferencing and Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to local governments, and SchoolNet provides streaming audio and video through a downlink-only VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) satellite. The government has pledged to dedicate 10 percent of its annual budget to the development and maintenance of these networks, which are managed by the government-run Ethiopian ICT Development Authority (EICTDA).29

Ethiopia has made several attempts to increase available broadband by laying 4000 kilometers of fiber optic cable along the country’s major highways, by making overtures to the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and by connecting Addis Ababa to existing fiber optic networks in Port Sudan and Djibouti. These ventures have had mixed success. The domestic network is not yet operational, though the government has promised to lay 10,000 more kilometers of cable by 2010.30 Once the cable has been laid, Ethiopia will consider opening the network to a second, private operator.31 EASSy has been delayed multiple times by disagreements among the member countries32 (though at the time of writing it was scheduled to be completed by June 201033), and the line to Djibouti was sabotaged and looted, allegedly by ONLF and OLF rebels, shortly after its completion in 2006.34

Currently satellite Internet is available to some large corporations, but individuals are not permitted to have private satellite connections. The ETC also bans the use of VoIP in Internet cafés and by the general population,35 though its web site lists VoIP as part of the company’s future broadband strategy.36"

http://opennet.net/research/profiles/ethiopia

:ohno:

The government really really needs to let private operators enter the market. This is just freaking absurd!!! If it's for the censorship, they can still control the information even if there are private operators. AaaaaaaHHHH!

^^I don't think the censorship is the main problem. It's all about money, both ETC and EEPCO are a huge source of income for the government. If private operators would enter the market it would be the end of ETC.

"Recently, the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) announced the deployment of an 80 gigabyte fiber optics network that would connect our telecommunication infrastructure to the rest of the world via the Port of Sudan fiber landing station. The justification to put such efforts in motion was to compliment and eventually replace the aging microwave network that allowed ETC to connect inter and intra country.
Of course, the Addis, Dire Dawa, Djibouti fiber route was a colossal mess, and as recently as last fall, there was no clear strategy on how to bring this service back online. Looters were credited for single-handedly destroying the fiber leg between Dire Dawa and Djibouti. Since the fiber network requires that it connect to the various undersea cables that run through the Red Sea; options to connect were at the Port of Djibouti and the Port of Sudan. In mid 2007 Ethiopia was finally (though only technically as it turns out) connected via fiber optics to the rest of the World through the Port of Sudan!

So where is the marked difference in quality? Our Internet connectivity is not faster. Our calls are not clearer. Our network is no less congested. Currently, there is only one live connection linking Addis Ababa with the Port of Sudan; and the cable system connecting to the Verizon Network in the Middle East. However, this route is plagued with network incompatibilities, allowing most to deduce that the project did little to provide the much needed relief to the congested network.

Recently, the undersea cable known as Sea Me We 3, which links Europe-Middle East-Asia, experienced a severe cable cut near the Port of Alexandria in Egypt, and a second cut off the coast of Dubai which literally brought the Internet world in Ethiopia to a screeching halt. Currently Sea Me We 4 is under construction and will provide extra redundancy on the network. However one must wonder why, in this day and age, one cable cut would have such an adverse affect on service levels?

Like good wine, an aged (proven) and mature network is best, is perhaps the thinking that is embraced within ETC. As the rest of the world is communicating using multiple mediums, Ethiopia is still trying to perfect a few basic services. Without a reliable network backbone, and an ability to tap into global fiber networks, Ethiopia will still be light years behind in upgrading its facilities to even catch up with what is happening other East African countries.

Recently, it was announced that the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is close to making itself available to Ethiopia via the Port of Djibouti. Funded by the World Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, EASSy will interconnect six sea outlet countries and five landlocked countries, with South Africa. SEACOM cable system, funded by private investment companies with landing points from South Africa through Mombassa, Kenya, should give Ethiopia yet another alternative to connect to Southern Africa, Asia and beyond. This cable system is expected to go live in 2009/10. ETC must embrace these new alternatives immediately to create much needed redundancy and load sharing.

And then there is the inter city and intra city connectivity issue. While having the last mile as fiber would be music to anyone’s ears, the reality of achieving such a huge undertaking is next to impossible. WiMax would be the favored network architecture that can achieve similar objectives (see story on page 19).

While work is continuing to interconnect seven major cities to Addis Ababa via fiber, the length of time to complete the projects seems mind-boggling. ETC needs to learn a thing or two from the Ethiopian Roads Authority, who have done a tremendous job expanding the road capacity within the capital city and beyond. The need to embrace new technology and expand communication pipelines, to connect to the rest of the world is critical to building the Ethiopian economy, for without reliable instant communication capabilities, Ethiopia will continue to lag behind and cannot be a serious contender in the global economy."

http://www.horizonethiopia.com/index.php/Business_and_Development/_Fiber_Optics_Network_Potential_in_Ethiopia.html

ይህ http://gce-etc.tripod.com/index.html ድረ-ገፅ ከ2005 እኤአ ጀምሮ የ መ/ቤቱን ዝርክርክነት በተቻለው ሲያጋልጥ የነበረ ገፅ ነው። ከገፁ የተጠቀሰውን የ ኢ-መልእክት አድራሻ ተጠቅሜ አዘጋጆቹ እዚህ እንዲመጡ ጋብዣለሁ፣ ተሳካም አልተሳካ መሞከሩ አይከፋም በማለት። አንድ ላይ ሆነን፣ የዜና ማሰራጫዎቹ ጣቢያዎች፣ የኢትዮጵያን ቲቪ ማእከል ጨምሮ፣ ተቃዋሚዎችን አክሎ፣ የኢህአደግ የህዝብ መገናኛን ከፍል ያካለለ፣ የመነጋገሪያና የመወቃቀሻ ችሎት እንዲከፈት፣ እንዲሁም ማስተካከያው ምን መሆን እንዳለበት ክርክር እንዲደርግ የሚያስችል፣ ከህዝብ ፊት የሚቀርብ የመድረክ ዝግጅት እንዲያደርጉ መገፋፋት እንችላለን። እንዲያው ቁጭቱ ቢያቅበጠብጠኝ ባገኘሁት ቀዳዳ የምችለውን ላድርግ ብዬ ነው።

ይህ http://gce-etc.tripod.com/index.html ድረ-ገፅ ከ2005 እኤአ ጀምሮ የ መ/ቤቱን ዝርክርክነት በተቻለው ሲያጋልጥ የነበረ ገፅ ነው። ከገፁ የተጠቀሰውን የ ኢ-መልእክት አድራሻ ተጠቅሜ አዘጋጆቹ እዚህ እንዲመጡ ጋብዣለሁ፣ ተሳካም አልተሳካ መሞከሩ አይከፋም በማለት። አንድ ላይ ሆነን፣ የዜና ማሰራጫዎቹ ጣቢያዎች፣ የኢትዮጵያን ቲቪ ማእከል ጨምሮ፣ ተቃዋሚዎችን አክሎ፣ የኢህአደግ የህዝብ መገናኛን ከፍል ያካለለ፣ የመነጋገሪያና የመወቃቀሻ ችሎት እንዲከፈት፣ እንዲሁም ማስተካከያው ምን መሆን እንዳለበት ክርክር እንዲደርግ የሚያስችል፣ ከህዝብ ፊት የሚቀርብ የመድረክ ዝግጅት እንዲያደርጉ መገፋፋት እንችላለን። እንዲያው ቁጭቱ ቢያቅበጠብጠኝ ባገኘሁት ቀዳዳ የምችለውን ላድርግ ብዬ ነው።

good job.

Global Firms Vie over Ethiopia’s Link to the World

Neighboring countries also fighting for Ethiopia’s large future market


Ethiopia has become a market for owners of high bandwidth fibre optic cable systems; at least four foreign companies are aiming to get all or a slice of this vast potential market, reliable sources disclosed.



A team of three people from SEACOM, the latest visitors in town, arrived last week. They were here to persuade senior officials in the telecom sector that Ethiopia should connect its domestic networks of fibre optics (believed to have surpassed 10,000km) through Djibouti to an undersea cable system they have brought to the shores of the Red Sea, a.k.a a cable landing point.



Other western companies eyeing Ethiopia as a potential market are SEMEW 3, with cable from Southeast Asia to Europe; TEAM, from Kenya to Dubai; and the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), with landing points in six countries, from Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan, (9,900km), these sources disclosed.

If Ethiopia leases from EASSy, it will be one of the five landlocked countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa to be connected with marine fibre optic cable, which is cheaper and much faster than other options.


Landlocked countries such as Ethiopia, who have to depend on neighboring countries with an outlet to the sea, are called backhaul. They have to choose a landing point that offers the highest bandwidth and cheaper prices, according to experts in the area.


Ethiopia’s lease of marine fibre optic cable from at least three neighbouring countries would dramatically change the way people communicate through data, audio and video. The state owned telecom monopoly, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), has been providing data and voice services largely connected via a very expensive and slow satellite connection, operated by Hughes International. There is also a low capacity bandwidth connected via Port Sudan.


Not only has this arrangement made the lease of bandwidth very expensive, but also limited the capacity at 895kB per second.


“This will be expounded by thousands of [units of] bandwidth at a cost that will be a thousand times cheaper,” an industry analyst, with profound knowledge of the telecom sector, told Fortune.

Ethiopia has multiple choices, according to this analyst.



It could connect to any of the cables owned by the contending companies, either through Port Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia or Kenya. And it has a far larger population than any of these countries, thus offering ETC managers the leverage to negotiate better deals.


“Indeed, we are negotiating,”Amare Amsalu, chief executive officer (CEO) of ETC, told Fortune. “But it is too early to comment on the direction of the negotiations.” ... :lol: Well this is what you should have done a long time ago, but I guess better late than never. :lol:


However, the most potent contender so far is SEACOM, with its landing point already installed in Djibouti, reliable sources disclosed. SEACOM is a privately funded venture which sells international capacity to global networks via India and Europe after it launched operations in July 2009. It is the first company to offer broadband services to countries in East Africa.

South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya are interconnected via a protected ring structure on the continent. A second express fibre optic cable pair connects South Africa to Kenya. These two pairs have a combined designed capacity of 1.28TB (terabytes) per second, of which 100GB per second is currently active, the company claims on its website.



By Tamrat G. Giorgis
Fortune Staff Writer

http://www.addisfortune.com/Global%20Firms%20Vie%20over%20Ethiopia%E2%80%99s%20Link%20to%20the%20World.htm

Global Firms Vie over Ethiopia’s Link to the World

Neighboring countries also fighting for Ethiopia’s large future market


http://www.addisfortune.com/Global%20Firms%20Vie%20over%20Ethiopia%E2%80%99s%20Link%20to%20the%20World.htm

ጥሩ ነው ከማለት ሌላ ምንም አልልም። ሌላውን ሆድ ይፍጀው።

French firm selected to manage ETC

A French company is going to manage the state-owned telecoms provider, the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), after winning the contract ahead of South African and Indian bids, government officials informed Capital.
ETC attracted many foreign companies when it floated a bid a few months ago inviting firms to undertake its management in a revenue sharing agreement.
However, only the three companies remained for the final selection process, according to the source.
MTN, a telecoms company based in South Africa and BNS an Indian firm were beaten by the French firm. However, despite extensive efforts, Capital was unable to discover from ETC the name of the victorious firm.
“I am out of the capital and it is difficult to give releases without referring to documents”, Amare Amsalu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ETC, explained to Capital.
Though the winner is already known, negotiations with the company are still required, a source said, explaining the withholding of the information.
The firm will be responsible for introducing new schemes to reform how the state run telecom conducts its core operations, ranging from service provision to infrastructural maintenance, according to Diriba Kuma, Transport and Communications Minister, who spoke to Capital on the issue a month ago.
According to Minister Diriba, the winning international firm will also be expected to earn ETC huge revenues by creating new markets, while also reforming the corporation’s core services.
ETC is currently embarking on a massive 1.5 billion dollar expansion of all of its telecom services. Improvements range from offering various local and international language choices, to a 997 information service, to building an optical fibre network in order to create an efficient internet connection for the nation, 90 percent of which should be covered by the increasingly popular 3G CDMA phones.
“The transformation process the new company is to lead will kick off as soon as the ongoing expansion with ZTE is completed,” Minister Diriba, said.
Some experts have suggested that the continuing monopoly by the state of telecoms is a contributing factor to the country’s low level of development in that sector.
However, the move to hire a foreign management company looks to many like a step to liberalisation, although ETC insists this is not the case.
“The telecoms industry chain will remain under the state’s control,” Diriba told Capital.
http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?view=article&id=12253%3Afrench-firm-selected-to-manage-etc-&option=com_content&Itemid=4

Oh, I hope it works. We need improvements BADLY!

Looks like the mysterious French company that will manage ETC is France's national Telecom.

Ethiopia: France Telecom wins bid to reform Ethiopia Telecom

France Telecom, the French state owned telecommunication provider, has been selected to manage Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), Ethiopia’s state-owned telecoms provider, after beating South African and Indian bids, a government official has disclosed.

ETC attracted many foreign companies when it floated a bid, a few months ago, inviting firms to undertake its management in a revenue sharing agreement. However, only the three companies remained for the final selection process, according to the source.

MTN, a South African based telecoms company represented in 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), an Indian state-owned telecommunication company, lost the final bid to the French firm.

Negotiations between France Telecom and ETC are still ongoing, but the former is expected to sign the deal and take over the management of the latter within three months, according to the official.

Ethiopia’s move to hand over the management of ETC to a foreign company has been described by many local politicians as a first step towards liberalisation. The Ethiopian government’s monopoly of, and refusal to liberalise, the telecoms sector was widely criticized by many of its foreign partners, including the IMF.

According to the terms of the deal, the French firm will introduce new schemes to reform the state run telecom’s core operations, ranging from service provision to infrastructural maintenance. France telecom is also expected to earn the ETC huge revenues by creating new markets.

ETC is currently embarking on a massive 1.5 billion dollar expansion of all of its telecom services. Improvements include; the offer of various local and international language choices; a 997 information service; building a fibre optic network in order to create an efficient internet connection for the nation, 90 percent of which should be covered by the increasingly popular 3G CDMA phones.

France Telecom will not be responsible for the ongoing Chinese ZTE-run projects, which involves the development of Ethiopia’s nationwide network to cover 14 major cities, the source said.


http://en.afrik.com/article16897.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+afriken+%28Afrik.com+%3A+Africa+and+Maghreb%27s+news%29

I just found out france telecom works under the brand name ORANGE
http://www.orange.com/en_EN/

The Subscriber You Are Serving Is Fed Up! Please Retry Harder!


The world is shrinking as each day passes. With the momentum of information communication technology (ICT) galloping at the fastest of paces, attaining the concept of living in “the global village” is just around the corner. However, when looking at a monopoly such as the one that exists here, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), the situation seems to show a different picture.

ETC’s inefficiency is escalating. Walking into an Internet café to download a file from the Internet or even check one’s email is actually becoming quiet difficult.

It is high time to seriously consider the introduction of foreign competitors into the Ethiopian telecommunications market.

Nonetheless, this would require a constitutional amendment to dissolve the current state owned utility company’s monopoly on the market.

Telecommunications liberalisation has become a notoriously difficult political issue for the Revolutionary Democrats.

The predicament has not bothered the opposition bloc enough to do something about it, and the incumbent has waved the idea of introducing a compromise bill on the floor of the assembly.

But why? If passed, this bill will open the telecommunications market to foreign competitors yet maintain the national utility company as a state owned enterprise.

And better yet, if competition is introduced into Ethiopia’s telecommunications market, customers will enjoy lower prices, higher quality services, a wider array of service choices, and state-of-the-art technology.

A more efficient telecommunications sector will improve the efficiency of numerous business endeavours, thereby boosting the whole country’s economy. Improved telecommunications infrastructure will also help attract increased levels of foreign direct investment (FDI).

What more would the incumbent and the policymakers want than injecting extra cash into the economy?

In a nutshell, competition is the key to growth.

There is a saying that goes, “In the country of the blind, a man with one eye is the king.” This has been the situation in the Ethiopian telecommunications industry.

Previously, many lauded the corporation for their foresight. Ironically, customers have not seen any of this “foresight” bearing fruit.

The ETC, in its drive to expand its services by laying cables for broadband, was advised to have a backup plan as a contingency. Has the advice been accepted by the corporation? The current inefficiency tells the answer.

This is mainly because we see more of the same from the ETC: lethargy. As steady as this mentality has been, it has landed the corporation in a gully from which it is loath to climb out.

As a state run and state supported entity, the ETC lacks a commercial incentive to provide the best possible services at the lowest possible cost. It also lacks the financial ability to invest in the acquisition or development of new infrastructure. It is subject to fiscal restraints that slow the introduction of new technology, which is particularly problematic since the cost of maintaining a state-of-the-art telecommunications network is skyrocketing.

Governments taking gratification in owning monopolies is a contagious ailment worldwide. Promises of an enhanced business outlook have resulted only in, at best, monotonous and apathetic services.

The service they give now is not the kind of service that the “old ETC” would have even entertained giving a little while back.

Mobile phone services are an ignominy. The presently provided facilities, if offered anywhere else, would have resulted in the company being forced to fold due to a lack of customers, who would have switched over to the competition.

Therein lies the chafe, there is no competition.

Mobile technology was said to have been a stroke of luck to the developing world. Those same countries did not have to spend the capital outlay in burying heavy, expensive copper cables.

These landlines were an economic drain on many economies in the third world. Many were even then in the throes of laying landline cables in trenches many miles long, circumnavigating the whole country in many cases.

All this came to a standstill when the mobile was born. In one giant leap, the third world moved ahead. It would seem that the technological shock has not yet worn off at the ETC.

Oh! How the mighty have fallen. Once a leader in telecommunications in Africa whose capability was much exploited by the United Nations continent wide, Ethiopia and the ETC have now become dependant on other nations.

The ETC has allowed Ethiopia to become a net importer of ideas and services from neighbouring countries, for instance, Sudan and Djibouti for cabling lying. As Ethiopian companies have become indebted to the ETC, so the ETC is at the mercy of those that have allowed fibre optic cables to traverse their territory.

Liberal economists have been frequently suggesting that policymakers open the gates up for private operators.

Had the incumbent together with policymakers pledged to follow the recommendations, there would be a lot of companies here that could handle the kind of services needed in a proficient manner. Meanwhile, the country’s scanty foreign currency reserve diminishes further with lots of spending for such services that could have, otherwise, been provided locally.

It seems as if the ETC is slacking and shrugging off the fact that the customer does not have another place to go.

It only takes a twist and turn from the telecom sector’s regulatory agency to allow companies with enormous and sustainable financial resources (compared to the ETC’s loan dependent resources) to give the nation a chance to have better telecom services to depend on.

One of the beneficiaries would obviously be the ETC itself as it would get an industry competition kick-start to get it out of the detrimental and undeserving comfort zone that it is stuck in.

The key is for it to set itself free and allow the public to have more services and competitive ones at that. Indeed, while the sector catches up with the rest of the world as a result of the pressure from other telecom companies, all stakeholders will achieve a full understanding of the rationale for liberalisation.

Failure to liberalise costs the nation tremendously.

The ETC has been a monopoly from its commencement and does not understand the concept that “the customer is king,” thanks to the incumbent and the opposition who do not seem to show a shred of concern.

Still, the credit goes to the customers for their paramount patience in accepting the situation as if it was normal. Now, it is time for the Revolutionary Democrats to pick up the remote control and switch the channel to a new one, one with same kind of competition

http://www.addisfortune.com/fortune_editors_note.htm

incapable

SEACOM, ETC to Sign High-speed Undersea Connection Agreement

The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) will sign an agreement on March 18, 2010, with SEACOM for the laying of high bandwidth fibre optic cable systems, which are part of the Next Generation Network (NGN) Project.

SEACOM is a privately funded venture that sells international capacity to global networks via India and Europe, since launching operations in July 2009.

SEACOM is the first company to offer broadband services to countries in East Africa and has its landing point already installed in Djibouti.

The agreement was signed after negotiations with SEACOM; SEMEW 3, with cable from Southeast Asia to Europe; TEAM, from Kenya to Dubai; and the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), with landing points in six countries, from Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan (9,900km).

The project will enable Ethiopia to connect its domestic networks of fibre optics (believed to have surpassed 10,000km and extended to the border with Djibouti) to an undersea cable system they have brought to the shores of the Red Sea, a.k.a. the cable landing point.

The state owned telecom monopoly, the ETC, has been providing data and voice services largely connected via a very expensive and slow satellite connection, operated by Hughes International. There is also a low capacity bandwidth connection via Port Sudan.

The new network, however, is expected to provide a cheaper and much faster bandwidth connection rate.

South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya are interconnected via a protected ring structure on the continent. A second express fibre optic cable pair connects South Africa to Kenya. These two pairs have a combined designed capacity of 1.28TB (terabytes) per second, of which 100GB per second is currently active, the company claims on its website.
http://addisfortune.com/SEACOM,%20ETC%20to%20Sign%20High-speed%20Undersea%20Connection%20Agreement.htm

Oh lord, I hope this is the miracle I've been waiting for!!! I wonder how long it will take to connect to SEACOM? The fibre-optics are already connected to Djibouti so it really shouldn't take long, but who am I kidding. We're talking ETC :|

"ETC" የሚለውን የእንግሊዝኛ ምህፃረ-ቃል ሳይ እደነግጣለሁ፣ ጭራቅ እንዳየ ሰው።

"ETC" የሚለውን የእንግሊዝኛ ምህፃረ-ቃል ሳይ እደነግጣለሁ፣ ጭራቅ እንዳየ ሰው።

:lol:

አይዞን ጀግናው ያገረ ሰው! :lol:

ETC to raise broadband network gateway capacity
Saturday, 20 March 2010
By Zekarias Sintayehu

The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) and SEACOM, a Mauritius-based telecom company that is largely owned by African investors, have signed an accord for the expansion of the international fiber optic bandwidth submarine cable which the corporation uses, it has been learnt.

The new deal will increase the total 897.4 Mbps capacity of broadband network gateway currently used by the country to get international links via microwave, satellite and fiber by 445.44 percent. ETC has signed a contract agreement with SEACOM for the procurement of an international fiber optic bandwidth connectivity through submarine fiber communication system via Djibouti for a total cost of 47 million USD.

According to a press release sent to The Reporter, the agreement would enable ETC to have a total capacity of 20 STM-1 (3,100 Mbps). Out of the total leased capacity, 16 STM-1 (2,480 Mbps) capacity will be utilized for commercial purposes while the remaining 4 STM-1 (620Mbps) capacity will be used for the E-Government development program.

The release said ETC opted to sign this new deal with SEACOM not only due to SEACOM’s reliable and high potential capacity in enabling Eastern and Southern African countries to connect to the rest of the world via India and Europe but also the least price it offered for the implementation of this project as compared to the cost of other international communications.

SEACOM is a company that has a total capacity of 1.28 Tbps (17,000 km) undersea fiber optic cable system that connects Eastern and Southern African countries with the rest of the world.

ETC currently utilizes a total of 897.4 Mbps capacity of broadband network gateway with 537 Mbps of optical fiber, 342.4 Mbps of satellite and 18 Mbps via microwave for international links. The new international fiber optic bandwidth connectivity will enable the corporation to raise the current 537 Mbps capacity of the country's fiber communication system to 3,637 Mbps.

African countries which are connected to SEACOM system to date include South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Djibouti and Ethiopia.
http://en.ethiopianreporter.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2389&Itemid=26

Lots of technical jargon, so I barely understand what it means, but I presume the basic idea is that ETC will hopefully increase the speed of internet access.

Huge increase in broadband capacity in three weeks
By Muluken Yewondwossen
The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has made a surprise announcement that on April 8 it will increase the capacity of broadband internet in Ethiopia by 445 percent. Currently, a trial of the international broadband fibre connection through Djibouti is being conducted. The connection is owned by Seacom, a Mauritian company.

Although it had been known that negotiations between ETC and Seacom had been ongoing for over two years, it was not expected that an agreement would result in the extra capacity being delivered within such a short space of time.

Amare Amsalu, CEO of ETC, stated confidently that a new IT chapter for Ethiopia is about to begin, as the enhancement of international connection capacity is expected to support fast, reliable and high bandwidth connectivity.

At the signing ceremony held last Thursday, March 18 between ETC and Seacom for the procurement of international fibre optic bandwidth connectivity through submarine fibre communication, Amare told journalists that the corporation will provide a 20 STM-1 (3,100 megabytes per second [mbps] ) internet service for the public as of April 8. The existing capacity delivered by ETC from optical fibre, microwave and satellite is only 897.1 mbps.

An anonymous expert at ETC corroborated the view of his CEO, saying that the new international connection will provide the capacity for many extra users to access the internet at much higher speeds than have been available up until now. He added that the development will also make international communication via the internet a far easier task.

Over the last few years, the state monopoly telecoms provider, ETC, has laid about 10,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable across the country for the access of international gateways via Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya. "We have also finalised fibre optic cable extending about 70km from the Somaliland border," Amare said. Four years ago, optical fibre connected Ethiopia and Sudan via the northern border town of Metema with a capacity of 537 mbps.

From the new capacity, 16 STM-1(2,480 mbps) will be utilised for commercial purposes, while the remaining 4 STM-1(620 mbps) will be used for e-government programs.
ETC currently has a capacity of 897.4 mbps, which breaks down as 537 mbps of optical fibre, 342.4 mbps of satellite and 18 mbps from microwave via Djibouti for international links. The new connectivity will enable the corporation to raise the current 537 mbps capacity of fibre communication of the country to 3,637 mbps, or increased it by 677.28 percent, and to increase the total 897.4 mbps capacity currently used via microwave, satellite and fibre by 445.44 percent.

The new connectivity comes at a total cost of 47 million dollars (634.5 million birr) and has the capacity to provide for 20 million customers. Currently there are tens of thousands of Ethiopian internet subscribers, with Addis Ababa having the major share.
It is hoped that plentiful and readily available bandwidth will result in lower telecommunications costs and new opportunities across many sectors of the Ethiopian economy, including ICT industries, but also educational, clinical, and scientific projects that rely on the real-time sharing of data around the world at fast speeds. It will also enable new technologies, such as high definition TV and peer to peer networks.
Amare said that Seacom offered the lowest price out of the companies that bid to implement the scheme. He also stated that Seacom has agreed to provide a reduced charge for e-government services. School net, woreda net, revenue net, telemedicine and agrinet are some of the existing e-government programs.

The contract will last from seven to 20 years, according to Abdurahim Ahmed, Head of Corporate Communications at ETC.

Currently, out of total internet usage, data downloading takes an 85 per cent share, which shows that a high bandwidth service will save time and expense, Abdurahim explained at the ceremony.

Seacom, the privately-funded and over three-quarter African-owned submarine fibre optic cable firm, has a total capacity of 1.28 terabytes per second. It owns 17 000km of submarine fibre optic cable enabling eastern and southern African countries to connect to the rest of the world via India and Europe. It is the first such cable to connect to the east African coast.

African countries connected to the Seacom system to date include South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Three of these countries, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda, are landlocked countries unable to link directly with the international fibre optic cable. Ethiopia has been trying to link with the international line due to a lack of agreement with neighbouring countries about cable extending procedures and related issues, including sovereignty- and security-related matters.

The Ethiopian Government is actively rolling out a 1.5 billion dollar national initiative to improve the country's telecommunications infrastructure. The current project is one of the nine Next Generation Network projects the corporation is undertaking.

http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?view=article&id=12523%3Ahuge-increase-in-broadband-capacity-in-three-weeks&option=com_content&Itemid=4

I must be dreaming! YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!

Ethiopian Telecommunications Liberalization Agenda Sets Framework for Growth and Investment

The telecommunications market in Ethiopia is on the verge of massive growth, leading to a wide range of investment opportunities in telecommunications and downstream information and communications technology (ICT) segments, according to a new study published by Technology Strategies International in partnership with BroadGroup TMT Ventures. The report predicts that by 2011 the state-owned incumbent, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) will have a privatisation timetable in place, and that liberalisation of the mobile market will take place shortly after that.

"The Ethiopian Government recognizes that the country is being left behind in terms of digital inclusion, and urgently needs to address this if it wants to reap the benefits that other African countries have demonstrated from embracing ICTs," notes Christie Christelis, President of Technology Strategies International. "It may also become an important political issue in the next elections."

While the Ethiopian Government is on record saying that it will not hasten the liberalization process, and will not succumb to pressure from the international community to liberalize its banking and telecommunications sectors in order to accede to the WTO, Christelis believes that there is neither any reason for, nor any benefit from delaying the process further.

"Liberalization of the telecommunications environment will create a raft of ICT investment opportunities in Ethiopia," Christelis says. "The Chinese have already recognized the potential of Ethiopia and are building an electronics manufacturing facility to address the high growth expected in demand for handsets and accessories. They are also providing supplier financing in certain telecommunications investments in order to address the shortage of domestic capital."

The report predicts that over the next five years the number of mobile subscribers in Ethiopia will grow at an annual rate of 43% (CAGR), to reach almost 20 million subscribers by 2014.

Christelis added that Ethiopia will provide a range of excellent investment opportunities for foreign investors interested in the ICT sector, but warns that the window will not be open indefinitely. He predicts that the next four years will be critical in shaping the Ethiopian ICT sector's future and will provide high return opportunities for foreign investors that have the risk tolerance, and ability, to capitalize on the coming surge in ICT-related markets.

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/42522.php
http://www.itnewsafrica.com/?p=6440

I don't know on what basis they predict this liberalization, but I hope it is true.

Good God! Vive le France (Telcom)!

ኢቲሲ፣ ወይም ቴሌ፣ ሽመሉን ለሌች አሳልፈው እነሱ እንደትቢያ በንነው መጥፋት አለባቸው። የነሱ ስም እስካለ ድረስ አገራችን ከጭለማ አትወጣም። በዚህ ህዝብ ላይ ያደረሱት በደል እስከወዲያኛው የሚረሳ አይደልም። የብስጭታችንና የእንባችን ጎርፍ ይዟቸው እንደሚሄድ አልጠራጠርም። ቴሌ እርኩስ መስሪያ ቤት ነው።

ETC need to pass the baton and disappear like a puff of smoke. As long as they exist our country will not break out of darkness. We shall never forget the ill they committed on our people. The flood of our tears shall destroy them one day. ETC is a cursed corporation.

ETC, France Telecom Sign Management Contract

Signed deal awaits nod from the Council of Ministers

The management of the state owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has now officially been handed over to a foreign firm, 102 years after Emperor Menelik decided that such a vital communications network ought to be managed by a native.
The transfer of management from one of the founders of Ethiopia’s telecom industry, Michel Chefneux, who had run the embryonic telecommunications network for a decade beginning 1897, to Lij Beyene Yimar, in 1907, is considered as one of the crucial milestones in the history of the Corporation.
Last week, managers at the state owned telecom monopoly signed a deal with senior officers of France Telecom, thereby putting the management of ETC in the hands of a European firm, reliable sources disclosed.
The deal was signed on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, with a business team of about 10, led by Stéphane Richard, the newly appointed boss of France Telecom, according to these sources.
France Telecom, a.k.a the Orange Company, will manage ETC on behalf of the Ethiopian government for up to three years. The European company had been in a bid against South African and Indian firms to win the contract.
France Telecom-Orange will be paid an annual management fee, although there is a possibility of revenues sharing from enhanced services, according to these sources.
Nonetheless, details of the deal remain undisclosed, although France Telecom’s experts are planning to conduct inventory of staff and resources in the next seven months, before beginning to implement their plans, according to these sources.
However, the deal signed last week has not been sent to the Council of Ministers for an approval, sources disclosed.
If approved, ETC will join companies in 32 countries where the European telecom operator exist, serving a combined number of 193 million subscribers.
France Telecom has the task of ensuring the federal government’s ambitious plan of expanding telecom services across the country. The government wants to see access to telecom services become available within a radius of five kilometres to 100pc of the population by the end of this year, as opposed to 13pc in 2001.
It is investing over two billion dollars to expand the telecom infrastructure, in order to increase telecom point of presence from 1,900 four years ago to 17,000 at the end of the year, while it wants to see landlines increase from 1.1 million to four million and mobile from 1.2 million to 8.5 million subscribers.

http://addisfortune.com/ETC,%20France%20Telecom%20Sign%20Management%20Contract.htm

This is the smartest thing ETC has done in its entire existance.
We're more or less going to get the benefit of liberalisation without doing so.
I actually think that this will probably bring liberalisation a step forward, because ETC will actually be well run and competitive when other competitors are introduced.

Ethiopia needs a second telecom operator not changing ETC management.

Ethiopia needs a second telecom operator not changing ETC management.

I totally disagree. In fact, as we speak the management of ETC is on the prosess of being replaced by a team from France's national telecom. Every single person and their neighbor knows of the totally failed ETC, even as corrput, and incompetent as they are they actually made record profit by monopolizing the whole market. The purpose of telecom sector should be to make it easy to COMMUNICATE, yet Ethiopia has one of the most strickly regualted communication sector. You can't even use skype, or google Video to talk to someone in Ethiopia. I am sure they have that in Somalia:lol:

at least they are making improvement on the connection of educational institution internet network :)


ETC Contracts Gilat to Expand Ethiopian SchoolNet Project
June 3, 2010 | Satellite Today | Staff Writer
[Satellite TODAY 06-03-10] Gilat Satellite Networks has been chosen by Ethiopia's national telecom operator, Ethiopian Telecommunication Corp. (ETC), to provide satellite communications equipment for deployment as part of the country’s nationwide SchoolNet project, Gilat announced June 2.
SchoolNet, a satellite-based network which provides Internet connectivity as well as TV-broadcast educational content to secondary schools across Ethiopia, aims to provide students in hundreds of rural schools with access to equal learning opportunities to those in urban schools. ETC will integrate Gilat's satellite communications equipment to expand the network to serve several hundred additional schools.
Gilat is currently providing ETC with an upgrade to its existing VSAT network to enable delivery of advanced broadband services. ETC also is deploying Gilat's VSATs at remote community centers to provide Ethiopian citizens with telephony and broadband Internet access.
Feed URL:
http://www.satellitetoday.com/rss/st/headlines/rss.xml

some good news about Etc.

Ethiopia to lengthen fibre-optic line
Posted on Friday 11 June 2010 - 12:02
AfricaNews Monitoring Team Credit: newbusinessethiopia.com
Ethiopia is working to extend the current 7,000 kms of fiber-optics line to 10,000 kms in the coming three months with the aim of expanding telephone and internet services. This is indicated by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Sofian Ahmed, while presenting five year performance report of the ministry to the country’s Parliament.
Access to telecom services of Ethiopia in five kilometres range has now reached 50 percent from it was at 13 percent last year, according to Sufian.

He also noted that in the coming three months the total number of mobile phone users in the country will also increase to 6 million from 4 million.

It was at the end of 2010 that the government telecom monopoly, Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation has signed a contract agreement with SEACOM Telecom Company for the procurement of international fiber optic bandwidth connectivity.

According to this 634.5 million birr (47 million USD) deal, Ethiopia will be connected to the rest of the world through submarine fiber communication system via Djibouti and will get high-speed internet connection and better telecom services. :cheers:

The deal makes Ethiopia the eighth country in Africa to be connected to the SEACOM system following South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Djibouti.

The information obtained from its official website indicated that SEACOM is offering one, seamless product to end users spanning 11 sovereign nations. It will be the first cable to provide broadband to countries in east Africa which, at the moment, rely entirely on expensive satellite connections.

The project is well underway with final construction and the cable landing stations have been completed almost entirely and the three cable segments are currently underway, the company says.

“One is making its way from the edge of South African waters north to Mozambique while another is motoring to the coast of Yemen from the Red Sea coast of Egypt. The third ship is loaded with SEACOM's deepwater cable that will go from India towards Africa,” it says.

The company also noted that there will be six weeks of testing once the 17,000 kilometers submarine fibre optic cables linking south and east Africa to global network is completed.

Ethiopia internet user 300,000 ....:(
Kenya Internet user 3,000,000
Ethiopia pop app. 80 mill
Kenya pop app. 39 mill
Kenya Cost of 256 kbps broadband 1499 KES (240 Birr)
Ethiopia Cost of 256 Kbps broadband 3,705.49- 5,052.73 Birr .......Eye Watering :(( nobody can pay that ETC
Kenya opened up for privatization in 2003
Pleas please please open up the market!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am just so helpless and feel gutted

Ethiopia internet user 300,000 ....:(
Kenya Internet user 3,000,000
Ethiopia pop app. 80 mill
Kenya pop app. 39 mill
Kenya Cost of 256 kbps broadband 1499 KES (240 Birr)
Ethiopia Cost of 256 Kbps broadband 3,705.49- 5,052.73 Birr .......Eye Watering :(( nobody can pay that ETC
Kenya opened up for privatization in 2003
Pleas please please open up the market!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am just so helpless and feel gutted
The price is high because we only have satellite connection right now, which is ridiculously expensive. It will go down dramatically when they finish connecting the local fiber network with SEACOM. An open market will certainly speed things up, but that won't happen any time soon.

By the way, welcome to SSC!:cheers:

Nice video about the horrible ETC.

http://www.ethiotube.net/video/9655/Internet-Access-in-the-Capital-of-Africa-Addis-Ababa

:lol:

Thanks for welcoming me into the forum Yoni.
But, do you think they (ETC/government) would come up with a reasonable service and price for Internet in Ethiopia any time soon?? I wouldn't count on it. I hope they do but the bureaucratic machine is fast to generate propaganda but there is no result to support it in Ethiopia. I have heard so many things that we hear when something is signed but disappear into thine air in a while.
Just read this two articles
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4416073.stm
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Ethiopia_plans_to_expand_country%27s_Internet_access

So much talk to deliver nothing. ETC will always feed us with what we wanna here but delivers nothing (Nobody is losing profit and nobody is in a hurry). They ban VOIP and skin us alive when we make a single call. I just wish they realize how much they are holding Ethiopians back. Government is supposed to provide something the market fails to do not prevent the market providing the much demand service. But as they say, TIA (This is Africa).
enkelfam you cracked me up man! eyareru mesak min yidereg!

Wow, our landlocking even makes our internet worse.

SEACOM has signed an agreement to supply the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) with international broadband fibre connectivity via a backhaul link through Djibouti.


SEACOM CEO, Brian Herlihy
It is expected that this will result in lower telecommunications costs and new opportunities across many sectors of the Ethiopian economy including ICT industries but also educational, clinical and scientific applications which rely on the real-time sharing of data around the world at lightning fast speed.

SEACOM's capacity also enables new technologies such as high definition TV, peer to peer networks, IPTV, and surging Internet demand at prices significantly lower than currently possible.

"SEACOM is ideally suited to provide international connectivity that will complement ETC's extensive national initiative to link the country's businesses and end-users with fibre broadband connectivity. The availability of high quality broadband at lower prices will accelerate economic development and educational initiatives that will enhance lives and will also establish Ethiopia as an important commercial center for Africa and as a regional transit point for other service providers," said Mr. Amare Amsalu, ETC CEO.

Ethiopia's government is actively rolling out a US$ 1.5 billion national initiative to improve the country's telecommunications infrastructure. Amongst other projects relating to landline and mobile telecommunications services, the national fibre optic network is set to be expanded significantly to allow the implementation of its ambitious ICT vision.

"As we have seen in other countries that gained access to SEACOM, it is only a matter of time before the direct socio-economic benefits created by cheap and readily available bandwidth begin to manifest in Ethiopia and the region," said Brian Herlihy, CEO of SEACOM.

SEACOM is a 17,000 km submarine fibre optic cable enabling eastern and southern African countries to connect to the rest of the world via India and Europe and the first such cable to connect the east African coast. This deal marks a growing number of African landlocked countries to be connected to the SEACOM network since its launch in July 2009 with tangible benefits resulting from SEACOM's arrival already showing across the region. Kenya has seen bandwidth supply grow by 700% whilst Mozambique and Tanzania experienced increases of 850% and 1000% respectively.

Landlocked Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda are the latest countries to gain access to cheaper and faster international connectivity through SEACOM.

It was about G...damn time! :) Next move should be removing ETC's ridiculous monopoly, but that will probably not happen. No competition = expensive bandwidth and slow growth.

http://www.ethiotube.net/video/9783/Internet-Access-in-the-Africa

By Muluken Yewondwossen

Amare Amsalu, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the state-owned telecom provider Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) has resigned from his position as per September 15, 2010 Capital has learned.
France Telecom, the French based telecom company has recently got a contract agreement with ETC to take over the management for the next four years to modernize the state-owned company.
The official hand over of the management to French is expected to take place this month. According to information obtained from officials at the ETC, the Ethiopian management team will also be part of the France Telecom-led management team. For this new management system ETC is selecting new managers from its own members of staff and other organizations.
The new management staff of ETC is expected to get a CEO from another organization, according to a source. The new ETC director will work closely with the France Telecom CEO. However, the source did not specify, who will come and from where.
An official at ETC told Capital that, according to the plan, the new management that will work with the French side will soon be assigned but he couldn’t say anything about a new CEO. “It is in a too early stage to say anything about appointments” the official explained.
Amare has served about four years as head of ETC. He replaced the previous CEO, Tesfaye Birru, who is now in jail for corruption charges in connection with the purchase of telecommunication equipment.

Can we throw him in jail too? :lol:

lamrof,
Will this news make you happy? / or are you still adamant & determined to demolish ETC........?:lol: Can you give them a second chance? - please!


ETC appoints new CEO, COO
By Muluken Yewondwossen
The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) is expected to appoint a new manager replacing the resigning CEO Amare Amsalu. The newcomer that is expected to oversee operational work will act as the Chief Operating Officer under the Chief Executive Officer. The new CEO will be appointed by France Telecom within the next two weeks. The latter has taken over the management for the next four years as of this month.

Issayas Dagnew, is set to take the COO position of the state owned monopoly telecom company that is expected to replace Amare Amsalu. According to sources, the new CEO from France Telecom will take over his position in the coming two weeks.

The French telecom company also presented a new structural plan that will overhaul the corporation’s capacity by implementing enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM).:applause:

The new ETC management will work in conjunction with France Telecom that clinched a contract to take over the management for the next four years aiming to take the state-owned company to a higher level in capacity and efficiency.:applause:

The new proposed management system will also minimize the number of managers and staff under the departments. According to the new structure the new management that represents the Ethiopian side will work alongside with the management team of France Telecom and learn effective management.:applause:

eTOM structure is the most widely used and accepted standard for business processes in the telecommunications industry. eTOM model describes the full scope of business processes required by a service provider and defines key elements and how they interact.

The eTOM Business Process Framework drives down operational costs by analyzing all facets of an organization’s processes, thereby eliminating duplication, identifying missing process steps, expediting new development, and simplifying procurement, thus scaling up the effectiveness and business plan of the corporation that has been criticized over the last many decades.

Amare Amsalu served about four years as CEO of the corporation. Prior to his appointment as head of the telecommunication provider he served the corporation as a vice CEO for operations of fixed line division for one year.
Before his transfer to the head office in Addis Ababa, he worked as head of North East Regional office of the corporation. People who know him before his appointment as a CEO said that he was successful on sales during his stay at Bahir Dar’s regional office of the state telecom provider.

Amare also run for Regional Council seat at the recently held fourth national election and was elected for Amhara Regional Council on behalf of his party, Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Source - Capital

I don't Ahadu. ጉልቻ ቢቀየር ወጥ አያጣፍጥም ሆኖብኛል ነገሩ። The french are not known for their Telecom expertise. The solutions is to privatize this industry. Its way too complicated for the government to handle.

Anyway I think you should move this post here http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1047637

Ethiopian Telecom Regulator is a Chemist???!!!
Hiwot Robert, London UK
September 21, 2005
I read Tariku Z’s article under the title “A Bizzare Understanding of IS by an ETC guy” and couldn’t accept as true what I read. I know the Weyane government is very unconcerned to the wellbeing of Ethiopians as citizens and the country as a nation.

This is time after time demonstrated by its brutal deeds against ingenuous civilians. It is further demonstrated by its thoughtless venture like provocation of the diverse ethnic groups, to the extent of inducing the Harrar Somalis to come up with a secession proposal. It is as well demonstrated by its despicable concoct to spark ethnic strife between Tigrai and Amhara or Oromo and Amhara.

However, I have never ever imagined in my wildest imagination that Weyane will go so low (near to the ground) and appoint a CHEMIST as a telecom regulator. The famous Ethiopian saying goes “September (our new year) won’t draw closer earlier than we take notice of implausible story”. I am an Ethiopian by origin, living happily with my British husband and two beautiful daughters. Both I and my husband work for the British Telecom. This is to say we are well out in the open to the telecom and the regulatory framework. Restructuring incumbent telecommunications operators, introducing competition, and remodeling regulatory frameworks can never ever be done by a mathematics or a chemistry graduate. It is a joke. I feel like being trapped by a friendly April the fool trick. Countries like Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan have led the way in setting up independent regulatory authorities, and many other countries in Africa too are following their lead. This is a major step forward and is delivering positive results for consumers.

The Ethiopian government's decision to separate the operator from the regulator in 1996 was a step in the right direction. Ethiopia has NOT yet privatized the telecom. But in due course the government will surely privatize. I read recently in the Reporter Amharic weekly that private ISPs are allowed to operate in Ethiopia. The ISPs will by law be forced to use ETCs gateway. I doubt ETC has got a sufficient backbone to speed up this process and make the venture successful. I know ETC has recently bought a very expensive broadband system which is kept idle. I don't know how much that may help. It could be of some help. It goes without saying Mobile and data services will be privatized soon. Privatizing the land line may take some time. This small privatization is the "refreshment stand" Weyane has planned to give to its western “buddies” who failed, though reluctantly, to endorse the naked electoral fraud.

Weyane has made up its mind to partially and reluctantly privatize the telecom to please the “ferenji”, so that the electoral fraud, the massacre in relation to it and the mass arrest and torture could be sidelined. This is like a day dream, and yet weyane will for sure go along that line. Here comes the challenge for the CHEMIST "telecom regulator”. Attracting investors will be harder to achieve now given the prevailing financial markets conditions unless the regulatory body in Ethiopia demonstrates high level of professional competency, independence and activism.

One thing a “cadre regulator” can never ever demonstrate is competence. Even if he wishes to, with his chemistry background, his hands will be tied on the matter and as the result will resort to ideological speech making. Over and above that, the government will surely be reluctant to hand over the regulatory role. A cadre regulator obviously lack adequate autonomy and a clear mandate to make and enforce key decisions, free of political interference.

What is wrong with the Weyane regime? Appointing a Chemist as a telecom regulator makes it a laughing stock all over the world. Actually, who cares? Does Weyane care? Not at all! Why should it? Weyane’s agenda is NOT to bring economic prosperity or technological advancement to the country. It is rather the direct opposite. So, appointing a chemist as a telecom regulator is in line with Weyane’s grand design to destroy Ethiopia.

ETC: Twelve jailed; the "Sacrosanct" ex CEO Still at large...........

It is to be recalled ETC did spend Three Billion of USD on purchase alone from 2002 –2005. The telecommunications gadgets purchased are now unashamedly discarded as either obsolete or of inferior quality. We, employees of ETC, openly raised objections to the bulk purchase decision. We tried to make the government aware that bulk purchase in telecom is not wise even in a situation where first class quality gadgets are purchased. The Government of Ethiopia right away wrote us off as political antagonists and vested ad nauseam administrative power in the ex CEO, Tesfaye Biru. The upshot was so much illuminating that all the projects botched. In particular the billing software project caused a big outcry. ETC squandered nearly $30 million Ethiopian Birr for the purchase of the integrated billing software from an Indian company called USHACOM and the South African Dimension Data. At present, it is the Chinese billing system which is on the verge of being fully operational as per the Vendor Financing Agreement with the Chinese telecom company called ZTE. The Chinese billing system has not yet become operational so far. The Indian Ushacom billing system is still, though in a staggering and jumbled manner, being used for fixed telephone lines, cell phone and internet. The over 60% ETC subscribers’ complaint against the unabated implausibly exaggerated bill in all ETC’s services is a non stop episode and the present management of ETC is wrestling with it on a daily basis. The pre ushacom system called AS400 simply has got an operating system and of course the hardware component too. The programming component was developed in-house and ETC’s previous IT specialists had that capability of giving it a dynamic touch in terms of periodically updating it as and when found necessary. All the ex IT department gurus are dismissed or forced to resign by the ex CEO. ETC is now forced to retain the old in house developed AS400 as a back up when and if the currently operational system totally fails to produce bill for customers. Unfortunately, the majority of those gurus are no more with the ETC. The Chinese telecom company overtly told ETC officials that the nearly $30 million Ethiopian Birr worth Indian software has to be discarded hundred percent very soon. The two ex ETC officials directly responsible for the purchase of the nearly $30 million Birr worth billing software are the ex IT department chief who absconded to the USA about a year ago and surely the ex CEO of ETC, Tesfaye Biru. I strongly urge readers to read my article under the title ‘ETC SUFFERING FROM KLEPTOCRATIC CORPORATE GOVERNANCE’, which was written about two years ago. This article perfectly makes very clear how the corrupt practice was perpetrated on the purchase of the billing software. The article is available at our popular and very widely visited website: http://gce-etc.tripod.com



Apparently, Tesfaye Biru is a “sacrosanct” and he is still at large untouched. The Government has not bothered itself even to interrogate him, be it as a witness or as an accused/suspect. The ex CEO's whereabouts is not known at present. Some say he is freely roaming in the streets of Addis Ababa. If that is the case, one can simply speculate the modes-Vivendi between the two criminals.



The Chinese vendor financer {ZTE} is now providing all the necessary equipment for all the services. The vendor financing arrangement involves $1.5 Billion USD. Please read an excellent article by Hailegaber Sibhatu (hailegabersibhatu@yahoo.com) under the title ‘ETHIOPIAN TELECOM AND THE CHINESE SYNDROME’. The article is available at our popular and very widely visited website: http://gce-etc.tripod.com





Many telecom experts, including the writer of this article, did without delay express concern over the ex CEO’s haphazard and shoddy style of management and the fallacious procurement procedure chaotically utilized by him at the time.



The other perplexing question is how about the ex Board Chairman, Getachew Belai, who is now the head of the EPRDF business empire, EFFORT, and the other ex Board members like the head of the intelligence unit and Hailu Ayele, who was even working as an acting Board Chairman on numerous occasions? All the purchases worth $3 Billion USD and now regarded as scandalous and disgraceful were concluded while the above guys were active members of ETC’s Board of Directors. These persons have explicitly and unequivocally approved all those purchase contracts. Why is the government is reluctant to press corruption charges against these persons? WHY? It is indeed a perplexing question.



Some four five years ago, say in 2002, the ex ETC Board Chairman, Getachew Belai, purchased a satellite antenna for $26 Million Ethiopian Birr when he was the Minister for the Ministry of Revenue. The $26 Million Ethiopian Birr worth antenna bought by the direct advice and recommendation of Tesfaye Biru and a company called NCR became incompatible with ETC’s Sullulta C band earth station as the item purchased was a KU band antenna. I strongly urge readers to read my article under the title 'ETC: Mother of All Corruption'. The article is available at our popular and very widely visited website: http://gce-etc.tripod.com



To let the KU band antenna operational one had to establish another Sullulta type satellite earth station. This was/is unthinkable in the foreseeable near future. Tesfaye Biru was swift to come on the rescue of Getachew Belai. Tesfaye Biru ordered the ETC warehouse managers to issue a receiving report for the KU band {$26 Million Ethiopian Birr worth} antenna as though purchased by ETC itself. It Means ETC bought a useless gadget and in turn bought a new C Band antenna to be used by the Ministry of Revenue. In a nutshell, the ex CEO of ETC spent $26 Million Ethiopian Birr worth C band antenna to cover up a scandal and the antenna was given to Getachew Belai’s Ministry of Revenue free of charge. The KU band antenna bought by Getachew Belai for $ 26 million Ethiopian Birr is still dumped at the famous ETC warehouse. I visited the warehouse very recently and found out that the antenna has become totally useless even if we could someday, before the dooms day, establish a KU band satellite station. I guess this “always worth remembering “act of kindness”” has earned the ex CEO an ardent patron who would go to any length to shield the indefensible.

Ewnetu Tessema can be reached for comment at gce_etc@yahoo.com

Ethiopian Telecom Regulator is a Chemist???!!!
Hiwot Robert, London UK



So this person is married to a Brit, lives in London, works for a telecom operator AND still can't use proper English?

Frankly, I didn't even read beyond paragraph 2. I'm really sick and tired of anti-government rhetoric. They never propose a solution, they just rant and rant and rant. Enough already.

This must be the slowest moving forum in the Africa section.

I totally disagree. In fact, as we speak the management of ETC is on the prosess of being replaced by a team from France's national telecom. Every single person and their neighbor knows of the totally failed ETC, even as corrput, and incompetent as they are they actually made record profit by monopolizing the whole market. The purpose of telecom sector should be to make it easy to COMMUNICATE, yet Ethiopia has one of the most strickly regualted communication sector. You can't even use skype, or google Video to talk to someone in Ethiopia. I am sure they have that in Somalia:lol:

Yes we have better service in somalia than the ones offered in addis ababa.
Note that Frenche firms have proved to be failures in many countries especially where the governments are strict on regulations as it is in Ethiopia.So this may be a curse in the making.We might reflect the current ETC in future comparing it with the french managed ones.

Also French comes to scoop the profits not to build the company.Stay in watch...don't say you were not warned.

Yes we have better service in somalia than the ones offered in addis ababa.
Note that Frenche firms have proved to be failures in many countries especially where the governments are strict on regulations as it is in Ethiopia.So this may be a curse in the making.We might reflect the current ETC in future comparing it with the french managed ones.

Also French comes to scoop the profits not to build the company.Stay in watch...don't say you were not warned.
The are competent people within' the country but the monopoly is killing this sector, or actually, blocking it from growing. The management at ETC obviously sucks. French Telecom, or anyone else is better than the ETC.. how can it really get worse.:ohno:

In which other governments French companies been a failure, and was it French Telecom?

http://2.s07.flagcounter.com/count/DymW/bg=ffffff/txt=ffffff/border=ffffff/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/
http://s07.flagcounter.com/count/DymW/bg=ffffff/txt=ffffff/border=ffffff/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/

Someone needs to kill these bots. Unbelievable!

The are competent people within' the country but the monopoly is killing this sector, or actually, blocking it from growing. The management at ETC obviously sucks. French Telecom, or anyone else is better than the ETC.. how can it really get worse.:ohno:

In which other governments French companies been a failure, and was it French Telecom?

It may get worse.Vivedi and France telecom are known to be failures in countries like Kenya.Vivedi a French company used to own the current Zain(when it was called Ken cell).Their poor management allowed Safaricom to capture 80% of the GSM market---15million subscribers.from that effect up to today Zain in Kenya has not upped the task to rob Safaricom some share.
Also that France telkom bought 51 % of Telkom Kenya ...the Telco with biggest network investment in Kenya and with monopolies in land lines and CDMA.This company performance worsened more than when it was in the hands of the government.Land line is almost dying,ADSL is no longer competitive as it was and no more network expansion for CDMA since then.
When they bought Telkom Kenya they expected the government to continue favoring them to shield them from competitors,so from then they are always crying foul of unfair competition.

Believe me:-Those French guys will only succeed with ETC if there is no competitor and if the no nonsence Ethiopian Government gives them breathing space as in not checking their operations strictly.They will flood Addis Ababa with fresh graduate expatriates from France who will be paid like 20 times a local Ethiopian expert on the same job.Retrenchment of the hardworking Ethiopian engineer and other staff at ETC without blemish will be evident in the name of streamlining operations and cutting costs,yet one frenche expert will be worthy paying 20 locals in the company....COMPLETE CRAP!!.WAIT AND SEE.

lol^

I'd say another 5 years before we can see and use anything significant and 10 years and it will be among the top countries in Africa.
Remember a lot of these graphs and data don't take into calculation the size of a country. US is always given shit for being 35 while tiny little countries like Japan and Korea are top. I'm pretty sure if you compared just California, they would be neck and neck.

i think i'm putting too much faith in my 5 year and 10 year predictions lol

lol^

I'd say another 5 years before we can see and use anything significant and 10 years and it will be among the top countries in Africa.
Remember a lot of these graphs and data don't take into calculation the size of a country. US is always given shit for being 35 while tiny little countries like Japan and Korea are top. I'm pretty sure if you compared just California, they would be neck and neck.

i think i'm putting too much faith in my 5 year and 10 year predictions lol

CEO Amare officially leaves office today France Telecom (FT), the French telecom company, which contested to manage the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), will take over the management of the country’s sole telecom provider as of Friday, November 26.

Accordingly, FT will manage, ETC (what will in months be renamed to Ethio-Telecom) for two years before assigning the job back to the Ethiopians.

Subsequently, Amare Amsalu, who has been serving as the CEO of ETC for the last four years (with a total of 15 years work at the corporation), has officially left office today, November 24.
"Ethio-Telecom", good start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdCME9CW-WY
A lesson for ETC from the mouth of Girma Wake! Independence and competition! Not gonna happen anytime soon for ETC. "ለነገሩ ራሱን ETC ብሎ ከሚጠራ መስርያ ቤት ቁም ነገር መጠምበቅ አይገባም :bash:

http://www.diretube.com/english-news/ethio-telecom-officially-established-in-substitution-of-etc-video_50fb56b1e.html

French telcome have got paid 30 million dollar for 3 years contract. For the people who have fear of the French company's failur management experience, there is good news. Ethiopian government has full right to terminate the contract at any time if the French telcome management team fail to deliver the change the government needed.

I despise the name "ETC" horrible, horrible, horrible.

(በናታን ዳዊት)

የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌኮሙዩኒኬሽን ኮርፖሬሽን በመንግሥት ውሳኔ መጠሪያ ስሙ በኢትዮ ቴሌኮም ተቀይሮ ማኔጅመንቱ ለፍራንስ ቴሌኮም ተሰጥቷል፡፡ ፍራንስ ቴሌኮም የቴሌን ማኔጅመንት ተረክቦ በይፋ ሥራ መጀመሩ ካሳለፍነው ሳምንት አብይ ዜናዎች መካከል አንዱም ነበር፡፡

የቴሌ ማኔጅመንት ለውጭ ኩባንያ የመሰጠቱ ዋነኛ ምክንያት የአገሪቱን የቴሌኮም ዘርፍ ዓለም ደርሶበታል ተብሎ ከሚታሰበው የምጥቀት ደረጃ ለማድረስ እንደሆነም ተገልጿል፡፡

የቴሌኮም ዘርፍ ሙሉ በሙሉ በመንግሥት እጅ በሆነባት ኢትዮጵያ፣ በሞኖፖል የተያዘን የአገልግሎት ዘርፍ ያውም ብዙ ችግሮችን ተሸክሞ የቆየን ተቋም ውድድር በሌለበት አሠራር ማኔጅመንቱን ለውጭ ኩባንያ በመስጠት ብቻ የተፈለገውን ሥር ነቀል ለውጥ ያመጣል ብሎ ለመገመት ያስቸግራል፡፡ መንግሥት ግን ከዚህ የተለየ አመለካከት አለው፡፡ ቴሌ በመንግሥት እጅ መቆየቱ ጠቀሜታው ይበልጣል የሚለውን አቋሙን አጽንቷል፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ የቴሌኮም ዘርፍ ከእድሜው አንጻር ወይም ተመሳሳይ ደረጃ ላይ ከሚገኙ አገሮች ጋር ሲነጻጸር እድገቱ አዝጋሚ ሆኖ የመቆየቱ ጉዳይም በውጭ ኩባንያ ተመርቶ ነገ ለሚጠበቀው ለውጥ ፈተና እንደሚሆንም ይታመናል፡፡

የአገሪቱ የቴሌኮም ዘርፍ መድረስ የነበረበትን ያህል የዕድገት ደረጃ ያለመድረሱና አዝጋሚ ጉዞ እየተጓዘ ያለ ተቋም ነው የሚለው እምነት እንዲጠነክር ከሚያደርጉት በርካታ ምክንያቶች አሉ፡፡ ከነዚህም መካከል በመጀመሪያው ረድፍ ሊቀመጥ የሚችለው ዘርፉ ሙሉ በሙሉ በመንግሥት ቁጥጥር ስር መሆኑ ወይም በውድድር ዘርፉን ሊያሳድጉ ይችሉ ለነበሩ ተቋማት ክፍት ያለመሆኑ ነው፡፡

ከዚህም ባሻገር የቴሌኮም ዘርፍ መንግሥት እጅ ሆኖም ቢሆን በዘርፉ ብቃት ያላቸው ባለሙያዎች እንዲመሩት ስላልተደረገ ነው የሚለውም እምነት ሌላ ምክንያት ሆኖ ይቀርባል፡፡

የተፈለገውን ያህል ያልተራመደው የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌኮሙዩኒኬሽን የአገልግሎት አሰጣጥና የውስጥ አሠራር ችግሮች በተደጋጋሚ ሲተችበት የቆየበት ምክንያትም ቀደም ብለው ከተሰጡት አስተያየቶች ጋር የተሳሰረ ነው ማለት ይቻላል፡፡ በገንዘብ ብክነትና ከሙስና ጋር በተያያዙ ስንክሳሮች ስሙ ሲነሳ የቆየው ቴሌ በተደጋጋሚ የማኔጅመንት አመራር ለውጥ ሲያደርግ የቆየ እንደነበረም እናስታውሳለን፡፡

እንደውም በአንድ ወቅት የቴሌ ነገር ዋና መወያያ አጀንዳ ሆኖ ከችግሮቹ ብዛት አንጻር ‹‹ቴሌ የቀለጠው መንደር›› እስከመባል ደርሷል፡፡ እንዲህ ዓይነት ስሞችን ተሸክሞ ጭምር እዚህ የደረሰው ቴሌ ጉዞው አዝጋሚ መሆኑ ባይካድም፣ ጥቂት የማይባሉ ለውጦችን አላመጣም ማለት ግን አይቻልም፡፡ የኮሙዩኒኬሽንና ኢንፎርሜሽን ቴክኖሎጂ ሚኒስትሩ እንደገለጹትም፣ ቴሌ ተጠቃሽ የሆኑ ለውጥ ያመጣ ቢሆንም አገሪቱ ከተያዘችው እድገት አንጻር እስካሁን ይዞት ሲጓዝ የነበረውን አሠራርን ይዞ እንዲቀጥል ማድረግ ለአገር ትልቅ ውድቀት ነው የሚል መንፈስ ያለው አስተያየት መስጠታቸው ራሱ ጥሩ ማሳያ ይሆናል፡፡

ማኔጅመንቱ ለውጭ ኩባንያ የመሰጠቱም ምክንያት ይኸው እንደሆነ እንረዳለን፡፡ የቴሌ ማኔጅመንት ለውጭ ኩባንያ መሰጠቱ እንደ አንድ ኢትዮጵያዊ ሊቆጭ ከመቻሉም በላይ ቴሌን ሊያስተዳድሩ የሚችሉ በሳል ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙያተኞች እስካሁን እንዴት አይኖሩንም የሚል ጥያቄ ያስነሳል፡፡

ዛሬ በአፍሪካም ይሁን በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ መልካም ስም እንዳለው የሚታመንበት የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ ከቴሌ ያነሰ እድሜ ያለው ቢሆንም፣ ያለማቋረጥ ማኔጅመንቱ በኢትዮጵያውያን ባለሙያዎች እጅ ሆኖ በቅብብሎሽ እዚህ ሲደርስ ቴሌ እንደገና ወደ ኋላ ተመልሶ በውጭ ኩባንያ እንዲመራ መደረጉ አግባብ ተደርጐ አይወሰድም፡፡

ዘርፉ ነገም ተነገ ወዲያም ሊያድግ የሚችልና ወሳኝ ዘርፍ መሆኑን ከግምት በማስገባት ብቁ ባለሙያዎችን በሒደት ማፍራት ይቻል እንደነበር ይታመናል፡፡

የፍራንስ ቴሌኮም የማኔጅመንት ኮንትራት ለሁለት ዓመት የሚቆይ ሲሆን፣ ከዚያን በኋላ ማኔጅመንቱ በብቁ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሊተካ ይችላል ወይ? የሚለውም ሊያሳስበን ይገባል፡፡ በዚህ ሁለት ዓመት ለፈረንሳዩ ኩባንያ የሚከፈለው ገንዘብ ቀላል አይደለም፡፡ 30 ሚሊዮን ዩሮ ወይም (አሁን ባለው የምንዛሪ ተመን መሠረት ከ660 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ) መሆኑን ስናሰላና በዚህ ገንዘብ ምን ያህል ባለሙያ ማፍራት ይቻ እንደነበር ሲታሰብ ደግሞ የበለጠ ይቆጫል፡፡

በድጋሚ የቴሌ ማኔጅመንት ለውጭ ኩባንያ እንዳይሰጥ ለማድረግ ሥራው አሁን መጀመር እንዳለበት ወይም ለፍራንስ ቴሌኮም የኮንትራት ውሉ ተራዘመ የሚለውን ዜና እንዳንሰማ የመንግሥት ኃላፊነት ከፍተኛ መሆኑን ያሳየናል፡፡

በተለይ በሚቀጥሉት ሁለት ዓመታት ከፍራንስ ቴሌኮም ጋር በጥምረት የሚሠሩትን ኢትዮጵያውያን አቅም ከማሳደግ ጐን ለጐን ሌሎች ሙያተኞችን የማፍራት ተግባር ቅድሚያ ሊሰጠው ይገባል፡፡ ብቁ ሙያተኞችን ለማፍራት ለሚያስፈልገው ወጪም ቢሆን ስስት አያስፈልግም፡፡ ቢያንስ ለፍራስ ቴሌኮም የሚከፈለው ገንዘብ ምን ያህል ኢትዮጵያውያንን እንደሚያስተምር ከግምት ማስገባት ግድ ይላል፡፡

በቁ የምንላቸው ባለሙያዎች ማፍራት ባለመቻሉ፣ ሥራውን ሊሠሩ የሚችሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከየአቅጣጫው ለማሰባሰብ ፍላጐት አለመኖር ወይም በሌላ ምክንያት ከፍተኛ የሚባል ገንዘብ አሳልፈን ለመስጠት ተገደናል፡፡ ከዚህ በኋላስ? የሚለው ጥያቄ ግን በፍጥነት መልስ ሊያገኝ ይገባል፡፡

ዋናው ነገር ግን ብዙዎች የሚስማሙበት ነጥብ ቴሌ ከሞኖፖሊ አካሄዱ እንዲወጣ ማድረግ ነው፡፡

There's no way to read that. The font is way too small.

There's no way to read that. The font is way too small.


አንቺ ማለት ይፈቀድልኝና...
የመረብ ማስሻሽን ቁንፊ መስተካከያ አማራጮችን በመለዋወጥ ሞክሪ። እኔ እዚህ ባለው የመጠን መቀየሪያ ካሳደኩት ለሌሎች ላይሰራ ይችላል። በኔ አስሊ በሚያምር ሁኔታ ይታያልና መፍትኄው ካንቺ በኩል ነው።

Egypt sold its telephone monopoly for 3 billion US and used the proceed to revamp its infrastructure. The problem with contracts is there is always a cost over run and it will be a miracle if the French wouldn't seek more money. This is true, given the practice of french companies who have been sucking the blood of countries like Ivory Coast, CAR and others. As much as i think, this venue is better than the status quo, I still think that the long term solution is to issue 51% stock to the public and the rest to private companies who have track record in countries like Kenya and Uganda. This will let the govt have the cake and eat it too. Not only will it benefit from a revitalization of the bloated bureaucracy but also get more revenue from tax collection as well as the equity side, not to mention bringing better service to existing customers as well as penetrating the areas not served hitherto. The Egyptian precedent is worth exploring assuming the ETC will fetch a billion or two, these funds will be used for other worthy priorities, specially if they were to be leveraged and bring twice or three times as much resource. The proceeds can be used to augment agricultural output, be a down payment for dams on any number of our rivers whose electricity( white oil) can be readily exported to the region and beyond bringing foreign currency and off setting the massive deficit out country has in import of its darker cousin( petroleum to the tune of a billion dollar and rising as oil has hit $100).

Speaking about the phone company, i have suspicion that the Electric Company has its share of problems, judging by problems at some of the dams ( gibe I's life span is shortened to 20 years due to silt), there is still black out or shedding despite a glut in the pipe line . The electric company should be split into two, at minimum.

This is from December 2011...

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/796/speeden.jpg (http://img16.imageshack.us/i/speeden.jpg/)

facebook and fring are blocked from mobile networks

This is from December 2011...

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/796/speeden.jpg (http://img16.imageshack.us/i/speeden.jpg/)

facebook and fring are blocked from mobile networks

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::ohno::ohno::ohno::ohno:

No facebook? :lol::ohno:

Oh wow, that's :ohno:

I wonder when people can start seeing improvements with the new management.

Even worse, it's says Nairobi.

Here's me right now, for comparison

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1114714498.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Again for comparison:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/796/speeden.jpg

Oh wow, that's :ohno:

I wonder when people can start seeing improvements with the new management.

management can't do shit right now.. ET needs a dedicated line.. they don't want it to go through DJ so their only option is Kenya from what i can see.

they're putting up ZTE boxes all over the city, but it's not helping anything.

All these cafe's that used to have wifi are not working anymore. the only place i could find wifi was at bole rock and even then you had to be patient.

Why don't they want DJ? It would seem it would be the shorter and cheaper option? As for security, the northern areas of Kenya are also not exactly a hotbed of safety.

Why don't they want DJ? It would seem it would be the shorter and cheaper option? As for security, the northern areas of Kenya are also not exactly a hotbed of safety.

apparently ET and DJ are not buddies right now and ET does not want to have it go through them because they would have to cut a deal minamin... it's all politics.. that's the "wore" i heard anyways.

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/4319/27995750.jpg

የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ጽሕፈት ቤት በሚኒስትር ማዕረግ የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ አማካሪ አቶ አርከበ ዕቁባይን፣ እንደ አዲስ በተዋቀረው የኢትዮ ቴሌኮም የቦርድ ሊቀመንበር አድርጐ ሰየመ፡፡ ከጥቂት ቀናት በፊት በአዲሱ ኢትዮ ቴሌኮም የሠራተኞች ምደባ ላይ የተፈጸመውን ግድፈት እንዲያጣሩ በጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ጽሕፈት ቤት ተመድበው እንደነበር ምንጮች ለሪፖርተር ተናግረዋል፡፡

ከ12,000 የቀድሞ ሠራተኞች ውስጥ አዲስ ምደባ የወጣው ከአራት እስከ አምስት ሺሕ ያህል ለሆኑ ሠራተኞች ብቻ ሲሆን፣ የቀሪዎቹ ዕጣ ፈንታ ለኢትዮ ቴሌኮም አገልግሎት በሚሰጡ ፕሮጀክቶች ውስጥ ይመደባሉ ከመባሉ ውጪ በውል አልታወቀም፡፡

የቀድሞው የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌኮሙዩኒኬሽን ኮርፖሬሽን ሠራተኞች ምደባ እንዲያካሂድ ከመንግሥትና ከኢትዮ ቴሌኮም ተውጣጥቶ የተሰየመው ኮሚቴ ጉልህ ግድፈት እንደፈጸመ የገለጹት የቴሌ ሠራተኞች፣ በምክንያትነት ያቀረቡት በሞት የተለዩና በውጭ አገር የሚኖሩ እንዲሁም ሥራ የለቀቁ የቀድሞ ሠራተኞች በአዲሱ ምደባ መካተታቸውን ነው፡፡

ቅሬታ ያደረባቸው እነዚህ ሠራተኞች የተሰማቸውን ሐዘኔታ በመግለጽ ለጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ደብዳቤ የጻፉ ሲሆን፣ ከጉዳዩ ጋር በተያያዘም አቶ አርከበ ዕቁባይ የተፈጸመውን ግድፈት በማጣራት መፍትሔ እንዲሰጡበት መመደባቸውንና ከምደባው ግድፈት ጋር በተያያዘም አራት ያህል ኃላፊዎች መነሳታቸውን በመግለጽ መዘገባችን ይታወሳል፡፡

http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5242:2011-03-06-06-45-34&catid=98:2009-11-13-13-41-10&Itemid=617

This is probably one of the best news from the telecom sector after the transfer of management to the french company.

Egypt sold its telephone monopoly for 3 billion US and used the proceed to revamp its infrastructure. The problem with contracts is there is always a cost over run and it will be a miracle if the French wouldn't seek more money. This is true, given the practice of french companies who have been sucking the blood of countries like Ivory Coast, CAR and others. As much as i think, this venue is better than the status quo, I still think that the long term solution is to issue 51% stock to the public and the rest to private companies who have track record in countries like Kenya and Uganda. This will let the govt have the cake and eat it too. Not only will it benefit from a revitalization of the bloated bureaucracy but also get more revenue from tax collection as well as the equity side, not to mention bringing better service to existing customers as well as penetrating the areas not served hitherto. The Egyptian precedent is worth exploring assuming the ETC will fetch a billion or two, these funds will be used for other worthy priorities, specially if they were to be leveraged and bring twice or three times as much resource. The proceeds can be used to augment agricultural output, be a down payment for dams on any number of our rivers whose electricity( white oil) can be readily exported to the region and beyond bringing foreign currency and off setting the massive deficit out country has in import of its darker cousin( petroleum to the tune of a billion dollar and rising as oil has hit $100).

Speaking about the phone company, i have suspicion that the Electric Company has its share of problems, judging by problems at some of the dams ( gibe I's life span is shortened to 20 years due to silt), there is still black out or shedding despite a glut in the pipe line . The electric company should be split into two, at minimum.

Agreed. great analysis.

Finally something is happening in ETC :) there are new internet and mobile tariffs
Unlimited
512kbps for 950 monthly
1Mbps for 1700 monthly ....
The whole presentation
http://www.ethiotelecom.et/press/Ethio%20Telecom%20new%20offers%2030%20March%202011.pdf

Still internet is quite expensive but the Unlimited ADSL tariff has changed by a huge margin. Especially, if the speed is not just a gimmick, we can expect somewhat faster (faster is always a relative term) connection in the internet cafes.

ኣርከበ ካለ ሁሉም ኣለ። ኣሁንም እጅግ በሚዘገንን ሁኔታ ዉድ ነዉ ግን። የስራ ባልደረባዬ ደቡብ ኮርያ ዉስጥ ለ 5ጂቢ, $10/ወር ይከፍላል። ለዛዉም የሳተላይት ቅጥያ ነዉ። ማለት ከፈለገ ሰሃራ ምድረበዳ መሃል ቁጭ ብሎ መጠቀም ይችላል። እኛ እዚህ ኣሜሪካ ያለነዉም በቁማችን እየተበዘበዝን ነዉ። ለሚስጡን የመረብ ቅጥያ ከ5ዶ/ወ በላይ መክፈል ኣልነበረብነም።

Finally something is happening in ETC :) there are new internet and mobile tariffs
Unlimited
512kbps for 950 monthly
1Mbps for 1700 monthly ....
The whole presentation
http://www.ethiotelecom.et/press/Ethio%20Telecom%20new%20offers%2030%20March%202011.pdf

Still internet is quite expensive but the Unlimited ADSL tariff has changed by a huge margin. Especially, if the speed is not just a gimmick, we can expect somewhat faster (faster is always a relative term) connection in the internet cafes.

Not bad.

I can live with paying $100/month for a 1Mbit service. Granted that type of speed is so 2002/2003. Perhaps it's fitting that it's 2003 over there right now. :lol:


The question is, how many locals can afford to pay $50 a month? (nevermind, businesses can)

The residential package is as cheap as $23/month......if only they didn't cap it at 2 Gigs a month. I mean, how can you only use 2 Gigs, unless you're just reading emails?

It's still a lot of money down there, the monopoly isn't working. What happened to the fiber network that's supposed to bring the prices down, or is the traffic still going through satellite?

It's still a lot of money down there, the monopoly isn't working. What happened to the fiber network that's supposed to bring the prices down, or is the traffic still going through satellite?

I think this IS that price reduction.

Prices were something like 5 times more than the current pricing scheme.

And on top of that, ADSL service was only provided to Businesses. They had no residential plans.

I think this is a significant change and prices are now comparable to other East African countries, if not better.

Are the price really that high in countries like Kenya, Uganda, etc? It's indeed a step forward, but I think the situation would had been much better without the monopoly.

Are the price really that high in countries like Kenya, Uganda, etc? It's indeed a step forward, but I think the situation would had been much better without the monopoly.

I take what I said back.

After further research, Kenya does offer 1Mbit broadband service for the equivalent of $55/mo.

But I think ultimately, the fact that they are affordable at all is a milestone.

Kenya's far ahead (http://www.zuku.co.ke/broadband/)

Oh wow. Check this out. (http://www.zuku.co.ke/fibre/broadband/)

That's $42 for 8Mbit Broadband. That's cheaper than most places here! lol

Kenya used to have extreme prices as well, but they dropped significantly when the government privatized the telecom sector. It's the same story here in Sweden.

Oh wow. Check this out. (http://www.zuku.co.ke/fibre/broadband/)

That's $42 for 8Mbit Broadband. That's cheaper than most places here! lol

Kenya is making enviable progress when it comes to IT. Last time I compared Zuku's price with ETC they were offering 512 kbps for 2499 KES (~495 Birr). But, now the zuku fiber makes mega reduction in areas where they have the (new) fiber networks according to the link. It is really enviable. I wish the much talked about broadband infrastructure (among other by PM Meles) makes a difference in price than just being a talking point.

But like yoni said that requires competition. The prime minister once said liberalization in principle should come after investing in infrastructure in 2007 when interviewed by the financial times. Now that the investment on infrastructure is over (or at least that is what I can get from the news there is no major work going on), it seems liberalization is still not a choice. Any sane profit minded individual (let alone France telecom) will not push the price near the level of competitive pricing while operating in monopoly. But at least they should give us something better. Because right now the only visible change is for business clients. If I am not mistaken the EVDO price has increased from 400 to 500 for 2GB :ohno:
In my eyes, the residential package for ADSL still needs a lot of improvement what is the point of giving a 1mbps if they are going to cap you at 4 GB
Let's hope they would revise some of their strange packages ...

The announcement of the revised packages and new products was made on Wednesday, March 30, by the service provider at a press conference held by Abdurahim Ahmed, manager of external communications, and Jean Michel Latute, CEO, both from Ethio-Telecom.

The new EVDO packaging and pricing system does away with the former unlimited service package. Instead, it offers packages of one, two, and four gigabytes at monthly charges of 300 Br, 500 Br, and 700 Br, respectively. Once this runs out, customers must pay 35 cents per megabyte of use.

The former unlimited EVDO service package of 4,000 Br per month allowed the customers of the Internet café managed by Zelalem Belay to see and download unlimited amounts of software, pictures, and videos.

However, even the comparatively cheaper 4GB package will cost the café more, according to Zelalem.

“The monthly charge for the package, which amounts to around 18 cents per megabyte, may seem cheap, but many of our customers download various materials that take up a lot of memory,” he told Fortune. “With this new tariff package, we must restrict our users’ ability to download memory exhaustive programmes or charge them a combined price system for the time spent and data transfer rate.”

“With our sizeable number of customers, the four gigabytes could be finished in few days,” Zelalem said. “It would be costly to buy 100 Br Internet cards at 35 cents per megabyte for weeks until the next month.”

Yet, the service provider’s network problems persist.

“We have been receiving complaints about the slow Internet connection the country is experiencing and the unavailability of Internet services on most mobile phones,” Latute said. “Ethio-Telecom is increasing the security of Internet traffic through a microwave system as a national backup plan, to cope with Internet outages, that will be finished by August or September this year.”

Ethio-Telecom is to expand the Internet fibre optic system routes in addition to the ones already laid on the Port Sudan–Metema–Addis Abeba and Djibouti–Addis Abeba routes.

There will be one additional line added to the Djibouti route and another one between Mombassa and Addis Abeba by the end of April 2011, Latute confirmed.

Aside from the revised Internet packages, new tariffs for mobile phone services, mobile SIM cards, and replacement SIM cards were introduced.

Ethio-Telecom has adjusted its tariff rate to introduce a new flat rate for mobile phone calls of 72 cents during peak hours and 30 cents during off-peak hours. Unlike the previous structure, the new tariff rate allows no price difference linked to tariff zones across the country.

As of Friday, all costs for calls from mobile to mobile, mobile to fixed line, and fixed line to mobile are uniform whether it is a long or short distance call - charging all national calls at the same price as local calls.

The fixed rate would benefit Gebresha Ergete, who works as a guard, since he has a Dire Dawa mobile number.

Living in Addis Abeba made most of his calls more expensive for being charged as “long-distance,” but with the rate adjustment, the amount he spends on mobile cards should decrease substantially, he claimed.

“The new system of charging flat rates is efficient and cost-effective for the user,” Latute told the press.

Baheria Mustefa, a shopkeeper who has a call centre, hopes that the changes in the tariffs will also be beneficial to her business.

“My call centre charges a uniform price of 1.50 Br per minute, whether the call is made to a mobile phone or fixed line of whatever tariff region,” she told Fortune. “To date, it has been operating at a loss, and I hope it will change when next month’s telephone bill arrives.”

The new price for mobile phone SIM cards has been reduced by 30pc from the previous 85 Br to 60 Br, inclusive of VAT. However, the fee to replace a SIM card that has been stolen or gone missing will be increased from 15 Br to 45 Br.

Abdurahim admitted that the increase was business oriented.

“The enterprise has two objectives,” he said. “One is developmental and the other focuses on business. It has to cover its losses and make a profit, too.”

However, Fire Dawit, a temporary supervisor at Commercial Nominees, which sells SIM cards and airtime, does not expect a rush of customers because of the sudden price decrease in new SIM cards.

“Most people already have SIM cards, even those who wanted a second one, after the previous adjustment to 85 Br per SIM card,” she told Fortune. “Sales could increase after the Preparatory Exams since parents nowadays shower their children with mobile phone as gifts for succeeding in their academic careers.”

The tariff revisions are being touted by Ethio-Telecom as a move towards making Ethiopia’s rates the lowest among countries in East Africa.

Ethiopia’s fixed line tariff is one of the lowest in Africa, according to the International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) 2010 African Telecom Indicator.
http://www.addisfortune.com/Ethio-Telecom%20Limits%20EVDO%20Internet%20Access.htm

Even though a tender this one tells ethio-telecoms 5 year vision.I hope they make it happen this time.


www.2merkato.com

Latest Tenders
Invitation for the Expansion of Ethio-Telecom's Network on a Turnkey Approach Based on Vendor Financing Scheme.

Posted on: Jun 17, 2011
Bid Closing Date & Time: Jul 07, 2011, 05:00PM
Bid opening Date: Jul 08, 2011, 10:00AM
Published on: Ethiopian Herald
Date of publication: Jun 17, 2011
Category: telecommunication equipment and materials
Company/Organization: Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation

Status: Open | Time Left: 17 days | Views: 51

Detail Tender Information

ethio telecom
Invitation for Expressionn of Intereset (EOI) for the Expansion of Ethio-Telecom's
Network on a Turnkey Approach Based on Vendor Financing Scheme
Floating Date: June 09, 2011
Ethio- Telecom, vested on the responsibility of realizing the Ethiopian Government's Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) 2003 - 2007 for telecommunication sector development, is required to realize the following broad and general goals: [Taken and revised from Table 32. GTP Targets for The Telecommunications Sub-Sector]:


Description of Targets 2009/2010 2014/2015
Number of Fixed Line Telephone
Subscribers (rnln.) 1.00 3.05
Fixed Line Telephone Densitv (%) 1.36 3.40
Number of Mobile Telephone
Subscribers (mIn.) 6.52 50.00
Mobile Telephone Coverage (%) 8.70 45.00
Number of Internet Service
Subscribers (rnln.) 0.187 5.00
Rural Telecom Access Within 5
km Radius of Services (%) 62.14 100.00
Wireless Telecom Service
Coverage (%) <50 90.00
Global Link Capacity (Gb/s) 3.255 40.00
Note: The above targets are the generalized and framework for the initiation of the project.
2. ET seeks Expression of Interest (EOI)on a sealed basis from international suppliers for planning, engineering, supply, installation, testing & commissioning of the expansion of the Ethio Telecom network on a turnkey approach, excluding civil work, based on vendor financing scheme.
3. This EOI solicits a formal and written response from qualified suppliers for turnkey implementation of the projects as stated in the detailed EOI document comprising of planning, engineering, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of the expanded network.
4. Interested suppliers shall register and collect the official EOI document from: Ethio- Telecom Sourcing and Facility Division, ET Head Office, Churchill Road 2nd floor Room no. 203 starting from June 09, 2011.
5. The closing date for submission of EOI shall be on July 7, 2011 before 5pm. Submissions received after this closing time will be automatically rejected. The official opening of the EOI will be on July 8, 2011 at 10:00 am local time at Sourcing and Facility Division office.
www.ethiotelecom.et


Company(Organization) Detail
Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation የኢትዩጵያ ቴሊኮሙኒኬሽን ኮርፖሪሽን

Address:

Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Companies in Ethiopia Permitted to Use VSAT

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) said that it had granted permission to companies that run internet-dependant operations to acquire and use VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal).

Some months earlier, the ministry had issued a directive allowing companies which are dependent on the internet and those working in remote areas of the country where there is no access to the internet to use VSATs, Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD), minister of MICT, said.

The Ministry brought up the VSAT in the wake of complaints from companies whose operations had been affected by frequent disruption to internet connection and downtimes, sources said on condition of anonymity.

The VSAT system mainly uses satellites and is slower than the broadband service which uses fibre optics, the latest technology in the telecom sector.

Regardless, some companies including the Ethiopian Shipping Lines are looking forward to acquiring the VSAT system, Tewodros Negussie, IT manager at the shipping lines, said.

The Ethiopian Airlines was also considering acquiring the VSAT technology in case the telecom infrastructure remains unimproved, Kemeredin Bedru, the airline's vice IT president, said.

Kemeredin said that he was going to go for the VSAT even though it was expensive and less efficient than the broadband. However, he said that he changed his mind hoping that Ethio Telecom might in the near future improve the telecom infrastructure.

Companies which acquire VSATs are obliged to use the technology to run their own operation, and are not allowed togive service to third parties employing the VSATs, according to the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.http://www.2merkato.com/20111003380/companies-in-ethiopia-permitted-to-use-vsat

When even state enterprises are jumping ship, you know something has got to change!!

Talk about taking a step back, depressing.

On the successful and rapid expansion of the EPPCo power lines ET to get a ride(beside nobody dares to climb a power line to cut the fiber optics :cheers:)





Ethio Telecom, EEPCo sign Fiber Optic Lease Agreement
Tuesday, 04 October 2011


Addis Ababa, October 4 (WIC) - Ethio Telecom (ET) and Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) signed a Fibre Optic Lease Agreement on Monday, October 3, 2011.

Mehret Debebe, CEO of EEPCo and Jean-Michel LATUTE, CEO of Ethio-Telecom, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies at ceremony held at Sheraton Addis.



The deal encompasses the 15 years long term lease of the optical fiber and the preventive and corrective maintenance of the OPGW fibers that will be done by EEPCo.



“The use of the Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) fibers will improve the quality of the ET optical network by reducing the number of fiber cuts since the OPGW fibers are by nature more reliable and secure than classical terrestrial fiber cables,” Jean-Michel LATUTE, CEO of Ethio-Telecom said.



The agreement is a win-win deal that allows two government companies to optimize their investment and share the same infrastructure to improve power and telecommunications over Ethiopia, it was indicated.



Mehret Debebe, CEO of EEPCo on his part said, “The agreement signed today would enable Ethio-Telecom to provide efficient and uninterrupted telecom services.”



The agreement is concerning the rental by ET of all or part of the idle optical fiber cores to bear high capacity optical transmission systems. Each OPGW cable section contains from 12 to 48 fiber cores. Only part of these optical fiber cores will be used by EEPCo for its own purpose (transmission and monitoring of its power equipment).



The operation and maintenance fee shall remain fixed for the duration of two years starting from the date of signing of this Specific Agreement and shall be reviewed every two years.



The duration of this specific lease agreement is five (5) years starting from the actual commencement date of Ethio-Telecom’s utilization of each fibre optic link.



The number of dark optic fibres leased under this specific agreement is 52 which found across 13 main routes; whereas, the total length of all leased fibres already delivered to Ethio-Telecom is 1424 kilo meter.



The fiber leased by ET will be fully integrated in the existing ET optical network based on buried and aerial optical fiber cable. It will be connected to ET network either through the EEPCo sub-stations or directly taped to one of the EEPCo pylon bearing the OPGW cable.



The OPGW fiber will be used for both long distance backbone transmission between major cities bearing ET DWDM system (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) and local backhaul connections carrying traffic from the smaller cities on the way of the OPGW route using SDH equipment (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy).



The project is known as “OPGW”, defined as “Optical Ground Wire”; OPGW is a type of cable that is used in the construction of electric power transmission and distribution lines combining the functions of grounding and communications.



The conductive part of the cable serves to bond adjacent towers to earth ground, and shields the high-voltage conductors from lightning strikes; while the optical fibers within the cable can be used for high-speed transmission.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 05 October 2011 )


http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28622&Itemid=134

Another good news to Ethiopian Telecom :cheers:


Chinese network to become fully operational after a year

Wednesday, 05 October 2011 09:08
By HAYAL ALEMAYEHU


The country wide network infrastructure which is being installed by the Chinese telecom company, ZTE, at cost of USD 1.5 billion is not going to be fully integrated into the existing network system until 2012, it was learnt. In an exclusive interview with The Reporter last week, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD) said that the current network connection problem is partly attributed to the pending integration of the ZTE’s network with the existing one. Ethio Telecom’s CEO, Jean Michel Latute, also confirmed that Chinese network is being closely monitored as it joins the existing infrastructure.

However, as soon as the integration is done the network problem will start to ease. On the fiber optics ground wire lease agreement signing ceremony between the Ethio Telecom and Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) on Monday, the telecom CEO assured the customers that network problems exhibited at the moment are going to be history once ZTE’s infrastructure starts giving at full speed.

The agreement gives Ethio Telecom the opportunity to access 1424 km of the fiber ground wire, which is going to be laid down by EEPCO. By their nature, the fiber ground wires are resilient to ruins and destruction compared to the normal fiber optics lines that Ethio Telecom currently uses. According to the explanation, EEPCO’s new fiber ground wires can with stand most construction and civil works and the sole telecom provider is planning to stick to the fiber ground wiring for the whole network transformation system in the country.


http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/chinese-network-to-become-fully-operational-after-a-year.html

Less flattering "news"..

Ethiopia Lags Behind in Mobile Phone Penetration

Ethiopia lags behind the rest of the world in mobile phone penetration and using the technology for private sector development and economic growth, says a new UN report.

Even though value added mobile services such as mobile money, mobile broadband internet are crucial for private sector development, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Burundi and Rwanda lag behind the rest of the world in mobile phone penetration.

This is indicated in the Information Economy Report 2011 released today (October 19, 2011) by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in collaboration with the United nations economic commission for Africa.

In 2010, Ethiopia’s mobile phone penetration stands at 7 percent only becoming better than Somalia, Eritrea and North Korea, while Kenya’s stand at 61 percent and Botswana and South Africa reached 117 percent and 100 percent, respectively.

Responding to the question why mobile phone penetration of is low in Ethiopia, “The reason Ethiopia is under-performing is related to policy issues,” said Remi Lang, Economic Affairs officer at UNCTAD at the launching of the report.

“Completion doesn’t work for everything. But it works for mobile phone service expansion,” he said, advising the government to open the currently government-monopolized telecom services for competition for different service providers.

According to the report, countries such as neighboring Kenya and Uganda have been using mobile technologies such as mobile money for transferring remittances and making transaction easy benefiting their economies.

In addition to mobile money, the report has also stressed the need for expansion of broadband internet services in order to avoid corruption and unnecessary bureaucracy by making tax and other transactions online.
Source (http://www.newbusinessethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=628:ethiopia-lags-behind-in-mobile-phone-penetration-&catid=14:ict&Itemid=9#CommentForm)

..an other reason is the challenging topography, but the monopoly has to go.:bash:

^^Monopoly is the main reason I'd say...Private companies need to be allowed in, higher penetration will inevitably occur and services will improve due to competition.

Why is it that the government doesn't wanna open the sector to competition? We have the same issue in Djibouti, damn authorities :bash:

Chinese ,Israeli companies face-off billions of Dollars worth telecom project



Saturday, 17 December 2011 08:30
By HAYAL ALEMAYEHU


Several months after submitting an expression of interest to undertake Ethio Telecom’s grand expansion project, two Chinese telecom companies, ZTE and Huawei, and one Israeli telecom network provider, ECI, last week submitted their respective technical and commercial proposal to Ethio Telecom. After Ethio Telecom invited some seven international telecom network providers about a year ago to express there interest in undertaking the lucrative contract, only three of the aforementioned companies submitted their expression of interest, according to Abdurahim Ahmed, Ethio Telecom’s External Communications Manager.

Ethio Telecom has for several months been evaluating the expression of interest each companies submitted before it returned back the respective proposals to the companies to let them revise their expression of interest in line with the terms and provisions of the contract.

After a one-year process with the management of Ethio Telecom, the three companies finally submitted their respective technical and commercial proposals last week to Ethio Telecom in a bid to clinch the expansion project said to be worth billions of dollars, according to industry experts.

The evaluation of the proposals will take some three months, after which the winning company might be known, according to anonymous experts at Ethio Telecom. However, Abdurahim told The Reporter that the evaluation process has its own due course and it is difficult to tell when it will be finalized. The communication officer said that the investment outlay of the expansion is not known as well.

The expansion project will enhance the mobile phone network from the current some tem million lines to 50 million while it includes the installation additional of fiber optics to the existing system and more related network installation works.:cheers:

ZTE has since 2006 been undertaking Ethio Telecom’s next generation USD 1.5 billion telecom network with vendor financing from Exim Bank of China. An independent international company is currently running network auditing works on the grand telecom project finalized months ago.

The network testing works is on the final stage and the finding of the auditing are projected to be disclosed in two months’ time, according to one of Ethio Teleocm experts who is not authorized to speak to the press about the progress of the grand telecom project undertaken by ZTE.




http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/chinese-israli-companies-face-off-billions-of-dollars-telecom-project.html

From the embarrassing 10 million lines to 50, a much needed bump. I hope Huawei gets the deal, it's a very competent company that's giving Ericsson a hard time here in their own yard (in Sweden).

Why is it that the government doesn't wanna open the sector to competition? We have the same issue in Djibouti, damn authorities :bash:

^^
Eavesdropping !!
They are listening to your private conversation / or if you have your own Telecom company, you can also listen what they (governments/ a cadre - like me) are doing & thinking - a sticky situation...you need a true democracy first - but unfortunately, @ minimum, true democracy takes 200 years to build up!

:ohno:

dTDLc7S_u0I

dTDLc7S_u0I

Nice logo for 'ethio telecom' so its no longer calld ,'Ye ityopya telecommunication agency' . I hope their service will also improve,, the last time I was in ethio the mobile service was horrible , mobile signals apper and dissaper in diffrent locations specially if you leave addis but even within addis itself,, we definitely need to erect more mobile telephone antenna masts throughout the country,,but most of all I hope to see fast internet connection that serves the whole country ,,,,our internet connection is embarrassingly too slow ,,,, and why would anybody steal the fibre optic cables????:nuts: its worthless,,, unless they want to use it to hang their laundry.
:ohno:

The internet connection now is much improved , is very fast.not much diffrent from what we have here in europe.

Why is it written so large in English? Look at how tiny the fidel is - why not just leave it out altogether? :ohno:

Vildana, I'm very happy to read that. It's about time.

Why is it written so large in English? Look at how tiny the fidel is - why not just leave it out altogether? :ohno:

Vildana, I'm very happy to read that. It's about time. thats what i noticed first from it too Abesha ,,, first ethiopian air lines now ethiopian telecom,,, :ohno:

:banana:The internet connection now is much improved , is very fast.not much diffrent from what we have here in europe.

vildana ,,, thats good news, really ,,, so ,,can you get broadband internet connection in all places in Ethiopia now?:banana:

Why is it written so large in English? Look at how tiny the fidel is - why not just leave it out altogether? :ohno:

Vildana, I'm very happy to read that. It's about time.

What do you mean by "just leave it out altogether". Why? If anything, the fidel should be much bigger and the English smaller, if needed at all. I don't understand why we are moving away from our own language slowly....VERY SAD REALITY.

What do you mean by "just leave it out altogether". Why? If anything, the fidel should be much bigger and the English smaller, if needed at all. I don't understand why we are moving away from our own language slowly....VERY SAD REALITY.

Correction....Ethiopia has more than 100 ethnic groups with their own language and culture. Now, you need to stop to 'Amharaize' everything! Ye Abesha Qemis means nothing to our Dorze or Gambela brothers and sisters - same goes with Amharic language - You just can't force minorities to eat, breath, speak or dress like Amhara! Just try to give some respect to other ethnic groups and try to be in their shoes to see things from different angle.

^^LOL, so they are closer to a foreign language like English?

For Ethiopian airlines, sure, it's an international airline that operates around the world. But how can English have any importance in a domestic company like Ethio telecom?? Woyanes are acting as if we were a colonized country, it's a damn shame really.

The internet connection now is much improved , is very fast.not much diffrent from what we have here in europe.
You better be kidding. There is slight improvement for people who use EVDO (slight). You don't have to wait ages and then give up to check some website like facebook and ssc. But it is darn expensive approximately 300 birr for 1 gig. That CDMA well, you can forget all together about pages with a lot of graphics. The price is the same and the service is the same.
By the way, EVDO started before the french come.
The cellphone well is getting worse by the day. I have to hold a card for a week (not kidding) before it can actually re-fill my account. SMS is delivered when possible (An hour happens not frequently but it will happen)! I am counting the days until the guys are sent packing!

Correction....Ethiopia has more than 100 ethnic groups with their own language and culture. Now, you need to stop to 'Amharaize' everything! Ye Abesha Qemis means nothing to our Dorze or Gambela brothers and sisters - same goes with Amharic language - You just can't force minorities to eat, breath, speak or dress like Amhara! Just try to give some respect to other ethnic groups and try to be in their shoes to see things from different angle.

Ere besmam....Why are you bringing ethnic politics into this? And who said Fidel is only for Amhara. If anything, it's more Tigre than Amhara. I was not trying to 'Amharaize' everything like you said. And I do respect the over 80 languages that are spoken in our diverse country if you've seen my previous posts. This is not an Amhara only issue. Are you saying all these languages are closer to English than their their own Fidel using fellow Ethiopians? You are so wrong. Like it or not, Amharic is the Federal language as stipulated in the country's constitution, while everyone has a right to use their own language in their respective regions. I rather see Ethio Telecom being written in Amharic and Oromiffa for example, instead of English and Amharic. My point is that English really doesn't/shouldn't have such a prominent place in our country. It is the language of commerce and it is acceptable for multi-national organizations like Ethiopian Airlines to use it so prominently but not every little domestic firm. Who do they think they're selling their services to? We (as in all Ethiopians for your information) have never been a colonized people, so why are we becoming Anglo-phone Africa? It's a damn shame.

What do you mean by "just leave it out altogether". Why? If anything, the fidel should be much bigger and the English smaller, if needed at all. I don't understand why we are moving away from our own language slowly....VERY SAD REALITY.

You didn't understand my point Yosiast. Not everything should be read as is. It's a way of speaking.

I deplore how fidel is being slowly killed from inside. What foreigners couldn't achieve, we're doing it on our own. Very sad and depressing.

http://www.diretube.com/uploads/articles/5f75f3f1.jpg

''Shared vision, shared culture, shared knowledge and shared realization''. Sharing a global vision world class services.

''We are now more than a telecom company. Our company has a clear goal of allowing Ethiopian citizen to flourish and realize their full potential based on the principles of sharing,'' Jean Michel Latute, CEO.

ethio telecom was created on November 29, 2011 with the ambition of Ethiopian government to transform the telecom industry to a new excellence. Since then it is changing and the launching of our new logo is one important step of our evolution. It is the new face of our company. It is simple, warm and memorable. Let's share it with you. Our new logo is official as of February 8, 2012.

Sharing is our corporate culture and the center of our brand platform as it is also at the very heart of the Ethiopian culture. People share their love, pride, growth, knowledge, culture, enthusiasm, inspiration, expertise, wisdom, passion, future, etc.

ethio telecom aims to forge strong social bonds with all Ethiopians and the whole world. In addition we attempt to enable the nation to share its rich and unique culture with the rest of the world.

The new logo holds noble ideas of:
. sharing fertility inspired by the green ecosystem of Ethiopia
. sharing smiles
. sharing a new story (a symbolic way to illustrated a new chapter for ethio telecom)
. sharing the ''e'' of Ethiopia:
Ethio
Ethiopia
Symbol of a nation
Earth
Enthusiasm
Energy


Shared Achievements

Customer satisfaction is what drives ethio telecom strategy and it is improving step by step. Here are some major achievements reached in the past six months:

Customer acquisition achievements

More than 15 million end of December 2011

. 31% growth in 6 months time
. Mobile more than 14 million(93% of the target)
. Fixed line 830 thousands (88%)
. Internet & data 180 thousands (104%)

. Growth rate
. Mobile 34%
. Internet and data 38%
. Total Revenue 5.6 billion Birr from 1st July to December 31, 2011
. Mobile revenues: 66% of total revenue, interconnect 21%


SIM and Voucher cards distribution
Implementation of new Distribution strategy:
. ethio telecom distribution strategy defined
. To achieve Product & Services availability and sales objectives
. To meet customer expectations
. 50 ethio telecom distributors
. More than 21,000 points of sales in the country
. SIM promotion is extended up to end of February

Mobile Products and Services
Simple, more affordable and more services
. Flat national tariff: 0,83 Birr peak and 0,35 off-peak VAT inclusive
. SIM card promotion at 40 Birr VAT inclusive with 15 Birr credit
. Creation of handset packages with Amharic character from 469 Birr VAT inclusive
. Value added services: USSD codes, Call me Back, Credit Transfer, GPRS, Voicemail for postpaid, ... and more to come
. Green voucher for all with low (5 and 10 Birr) and high (250, 500, 1000) values

Residential postpaid mobile offer
Available now
. To meet the high user clients expectation
. Creation of Voice/Data/SMS bundle packages for 169 Birr per month
. Monthly fee 29 Birr including VAT
. 250 local minutes, 50 local texts, 5MB internet for 140 Birr VAT inclusive
. International, roaming and above bundle consumption at prevailing rates
. Possibility to keep the existing prepaid number (number portability)
. Deposit to be paid on subscription, and credit limit account management


Enterprise market
Customized management and dedicated Key Account Managers
. Launch of Mobile Business Bundle offer
. Bundle of voice, text and data to answer to requested needs
. Closed User Group option (CUG) to minimize cost between users of same company
. ethio telecom Business Center on Churchill Road
. Dedicated Customer Services for Enterprise clients
. Periodic consultative forums organized with Corporate Customers


Customer Services
Customer Satisfaction improvement
. Optimization of Call Center: 98% of call handling Quality of Service
. Trouble Ticketing system: client management and resolution follow up
. Invoice consolidation for 62 enterprises and 67 Soho/SME customers
. Customer Satisfaction surveys, call campaigns, and proactive management
. Centralized dunning for postpaid clients
. Start of pilot Test of Sales Level Agreement (SLAs) for major customer

Network projects
Focusing on network Quality of Services
. OPGW (OPtical Ground Wire) project agreement with EEPCo to improve Quality and Reliability of optical fiber network
. Addis Ababa - Galafi
. Addis Ababa - Bahir Dar
. Securitization of international voice and data traffic
. International traffic through Djibouti second route
. Route through Kenya (Moyale) opened
. Ethio Optical fiber rehabilitation Project (982 km) ongoing
. Back up of regional and international traffic route with microwave backbone ongoing
. Assessment & replacement of faulty power equipment in Addis, Zones, started in regions
. GSM optimization program ongoing (Addis March, full country June 2012)
. 3G: capacity of 250 000 clients in Addis Ababa
. National Network Operation Centre (supervision, service and technical management)
. Generalization of Trouble Ticket management for all networks
. Real management of different SLA settled, according to Network strategy
. SchoolNet (500 sites) and WoredaNet (350 migrations) projects ongoing
. African Union new building connection as per requirement


Automation projects
Major Milestones of the Project - On Progress
. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): Oracle Finance System in December 2011
. Intranet and internet for all ethio telecom employees
. Securitization and optimization of systems and platforms
. ethio telecom shops automation project ongoing

Share our new Brand. We are changing, be part of the change.

External Communication Department
February 8, 2012
http://www.diretube.com/articles/read-ethio-telecom-launches-its-new-brand-platform_1354.html

Were bicha.

I want private companies, not this dinosaur only.

You didn't understand my point Yosiast. Not everything should be read as is. It's a way of speaking.

I deplore how fidel is being slowly killed from inside. What foreigners couldn't achieve, we're doing it on our own. Very sad and depressing.

I propose we do something about it...what do you say?

Correction....Ethiopia has more than 100 ethnic groups with their own language and culture. Now, you need to stop to 'Amharaize' everything! Ye Abesha Qemis means nothing to our Dorze or Gambela brothers and sisters - same goes with Amharic language - You just can't force minorities to eat, breath, speak or dress like Amhara! Just try to give some respect to other ethnic groups and try to be in their shoes to see things from different angle.

That's a very naive point of view. I appreciate the liberalism but Ethiopians of all stripes should not choose to use an European language over their own. In fact, it's pretty disgusting. No matter the disagreement between any of the ethnic groups looking to use an European language is just sad. Maybe the country should have been colonized after all.

I propose we do something about it...what do you say?

What can we do? It's not like there's a national forum for open discussion. The government is not interested in hearing the public's viewpoints on any level. And even when they hear it, it's swiftly dismissed.

It's very depressing.

:banana:

vildana ,,, thats good news, really ,,, so ,,can you get broadband internet connection in all places in Ethiopia now?:banana:

i dont know other places outside of addis , but in addis yes you can .cdma and evdo is much improved.

You better be kidding. There is slight improvement for people who use EVDO (slight). You don't have to wait ages and then give up to check some website like facebook and ssc. But it is darn expensive approximately 300 birr for 1 gig. That CDMA well, you can forget all together about pages with a lot of graphics. The price is the same and the service is the same.
By the way, EVDO started before the french come.
The cellphone well is getting worse by the day. I have to hold a card for a week (not kidding) before it can actually re-fill my account. SMS is delivered when possible (An hour happens not frequently but it will happen)! I am counting the days until the guys are sent packing!

how do i measure the improvment.
1. 2009/10 -internet cafe -try to open any page it takes ages , i had to give up most of the time.

2.fast forward 2011/12 . opening any page no problems takes milisec.

that i call improvment.

cdma/ev-do much improved but yes its expensiv.

What can we do? It's not like there's a national forum for open discussion. The government is not interested in hearing the public's viewpoints on any level. And even when they hear it, it's swiftly dismissed.

It's very depressing.

Well, it doesn't have to be political or involve the government for now. Building awareness is the first step. So, we can start by spreading the word and encouraging discussion. Raising awareness will get people thinking about the issue. I have other specific, long-term plans/ideas and if we can get people to contribute ideas and share their opinions (both positive and negative), that can be a good foundation to start with.