Ethio telecom

Ethio telecom, previously known as the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), is an

Ethiopian telecommunication company serving as the major internet and telephone service
provider. Ethio telecom is owned by the Ethiopian government and maintains a monopoly over all
telecommunication services in Ethiopia.[2] Based in Addis Ababa, it is one of the "Big-5" group of
state owned corporations in Ethiopia, along with Ethiopian Airlines, the Commercial Bank of
Ethiopia, Ethiopian Insurance Corporation, and the Ethiopian Shipping Lines.[3]
 Ethio telecom

Type State-owned enterprise

Industry Telecommunications

Predecessor Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation

Founded 2010

Headquarters Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Area served Ethiopia

Key people Frehiwot Tamiru (CEO)

Tefera Derebew (chairman of the board)

Services Mobile

Fixed line

Broadband

Telebirr

Revenue 36 billion Ethiopian birr[1] (2018/19)

Operating income 12.4 billion Ethiopian birr

Net income 5.7 billion Ethiopian birr

Total assets 10 billion Ethiopian birr

Number of employees 310,131

Ethio telecom was managed, on a management contract arrangement from 2010 to 2013 June,
by France Télécom, and was required to comply with Ethiopian government orders.[4] The
government said it outsourced the management as ETC was not able to meet the demands of
the fast-growing country. It also said that telecommunications services would not be privatized,
at least not in the near future.[5] Ethio telecom generates a revenue of over US$300 million for
the Ethiopian government, and was dubbed a "cash cow" by the previous Prime Minister
Hailemariam Desalegn.[6]

History …

Ethio telecom building and antenna mast in Mekelle

Originally a division of the Ministry of Post, Telephone and Telegraph, what would become the
ETC was established as the Imperial Board of Telecommunications of Ethiopia (IBTE) by
proclamation No. 131/52 in 1952. Under the Derg regime, the IBTE was reorganized as the
Ethiopian telecommunications service in October 1975, which was in turn reorganized in
January 1981 as the Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority. In November 1996, the Ethiopian
Telecommunications Authority became ETC by Council of Ministers regulation No. 10/1996. The
subsequent Proclamation 49/1996 expanded the ETC's duties and responsibilities. For its
international traffic links and communication services, ETC mainly uses its earth station at
Sululta which transmits and receives to both the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean
satellites.[7] Engineering consulting firm Arup, were involved in the design and engineering of the
early tower structures (during the 1970s).
In late 2006, the ETC signed an agreement worth US$1.5 billion with three Chinese companies,
ZTE Corporation, Huawei Technologies and the Chinese International Telecommunication
Construction Corporation, to upgrade and expand Ethiopian telecommunications services. This
agreement will increase the number of mobile services from 1.5 million to 7 million, land line
telephone services from 1 million to 4 million, and expansion of the fibre optic network, from the
present 4,000 kilometers to 10,000 by 2010. It is part of a larger US$2.4 billion plan by the
Ethiopian government to improve the country's telecommunications infrastructure.[8] In 2018, the
mobile service business has reached 85% of the country. In February 2018, it was reported that
Ethio telecom had 64.4 million subscribers making it the largest telecommunication services
operator in the continent. The operator runs three terrestrial fiber optic cables with a capacity of
42 Gbit/s to connect Ethiopia to the rest of the world via Kenya, Djibouti and Sudan.[9] In August
2019, the company announced that it will install 4G network before other telecom companies
enter the Ethiopian market since the government decided that it will liberalize the telecom
sector.[10]

Ethio telecom headquarter in Addis Ababa

Frehiwot Tamru serving as the current chief executive officer since 1 August 2018 preceded by
Andualem Admassie who served five years. Frehiwot previously worked as deputy CEO for
Internal Support Service for then Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation. She told to Capital
that she would manage all surveillance quality protocols.[11]

By 26 August 2020, Ethio telecom planned to extended 842 new infrastructure site during 2020
fiscal year. This infrastructure expected to enable the company to host additional 5.2 million new
customers. During this fiscal year, the company planned to generate 55.5 billion birr in revenue, a
16pc growth from the last fiscal year. It also plans to boost the country's telecom density to
51.3pc.[12]

Censorship

According to reports by the OpenNet Initiative and Freedom House, the Ethiopian government
through Ethio telecom imposes nationwide, politically motivated internet filtering.[13] Under a
2012 law regulating the telecommunication industry, attempts by journalists to circumvent Ethio
telecom surveillance and censorship of the internet could be interpreted as a criminal offense
carrying a prison sentence of up to 15 years.[14]

Most blocked sites are those run by Ethiopians in the diaspora who are highly critical of the
government, however, Ethio telecom has also intermittently blocked access to other sites. In
2008, the Committee to Protect Journalists site was blocked for several months after it reported
the arrest and beating of the editor-in-chief of The Reporter. For almost two years following the
2005 elections, Ethio telecom, which is also the sole telephone provider in the country, blocked
mobile phone text-messaging. The government accused the Coalition for Unity and Democracy,
the largest electoral opposition at the time, of coordinating anti-government demonstrations
using text messages. Ethio telecom resumed messaging service in September 2007.[15]

See also

Telecommunications in Ethiopia

References

1. Aregay, Daniel. "Telecom CEO replaced by erstwhile deputy of ETC" (https://www.thereporterethiopia.co

m/article/telecom-ceo-replaced-his-deputy) . The Reporter Ethiopia. Brook Abdu. Retrieved 22 August
2018.

2. Central Intelligence Agency (8 October 2013). The CIA World Factbook 2014 (https://www.cia.gov/the-wo
rld-factbook/countries/ethiopia/) . Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1628734515. Retrieved
24 August 2014.
 3. Kebede, Ezana. "Privatization and its challenges in Ethiopia" (http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2014/08/
21/privatization-and-its-challenges-in) . nazret.com. Retrieved 24 August 2014.

4. Committee to Protect Journalists (2013). Attacks on the press journalism on the world's front lines (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=QGLivHUDt2AC&q=ethio+telecom&pg=PA156) (2013 ed.). Hoboken,
N.J.: Wiley. ISBN 9781118611371. Retrieved 24 August 2014.

5. "Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation reborn as Ethio telecom" (https://web.archive.org/web/2011

0206152119/http://newbusinessethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=337%3A
ethiopian-telecommunications-corporation-reborn-as-ethio-telecom-
&catid=33%3Aservices&Itemid=10) . New Business Ethiopia. December 2, 2010. Archived from the
original (http://newbusinessethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=337:ethiopian
-telecommunications-corporation-reborn-as-ethio-telecom-&catid=33:services&Itemid=10) on February
6, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2012.

. "Out of reach:Telecoms in Ethiopia" (https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/2158403

7-government-expands-mobile-phone-network-tightens-its-grip-out-reach) . The Economist. August 24,
2013. Retrieved 24 August 2014.

7. "Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation: Historical Background" (http://www.ethionet.et/aboutus/his

torybackground.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20100308052554/http://www.ethionet.e
t/aboutus/historybackground.html) 2010-03-08 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 30 April 2010)

. " $1.5 billion China telecoms deal" (http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/Archive/Newsletter%20Archive/New

sletter%20August,%20September%20and%20October%202006.htm) , Ethiopian News Newsletter
August, September and October, 2006 (accessed 11 January 2007)

9. AfricaNews. "Ethiopia's sole telecoms outfit gets female CEO: Frehiwot Tamiru | Africanews" (http://www.
africanews.com/2018/07/25/ethiopia-s-sole-telecoms-outfit-gets-female-ceo-frehiwot-tamiru/) .
Africanews. Retrieved 2018-07-29.

10. "Ethiopia to install 4G network ahead of telecoms liberalization" (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethi

opia-telecoms-idUSKCN1VK1KB) . Reuters. 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2019-09-01.

11. "Ethio Telecom Appoints Frehiwot Tamiru New CEO" (https://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails/6458/

Ethio-Telecom-Appoints-Frehiwot-Tamiru-New-CEO) . www.ezega.com. Retrieved 2020-08-26.

12. Fortune, Addis. "Ethio Telecom to Expand Infrastructure Ahead of Liberalization" (https://addisfortune.ne
ws/news-alert/ethio-telecom-to-expand-infrastructure-ahead-of-liberalisation/) . Retrieved 2020-08-27.

13. "Ethiopia" (https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2012/ethiopia) . Freedom on the net

2012. Freedom House. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
14. "Ethiopian law criminalizes independent telecom use" (http://cpj.org/2012/06/ethiopian-law-criminalizes-
independent-telecom-use.php) . Committee to Protect Journalists. June 15, 2012. Retrieved 24 August
2014.

15. "One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure" (https://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/03/24/one-hundred-way

s-putting-pressure-0) , p. 52. Human Rights Watch report, released 10 March 2010

External links

Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation website (http://www.ethionet.et/)

GSM coverage (http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_et.shtml)

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