The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation announced the reductions of prices for its Internet and related services. In an interview with ICT Focus, Ato Abdurahim Ahmed, Public Relations Deputy Manager, the decision was taken to create an effective demand and expand the services to reach the wider segment of the Ethiopian population.

The Internet service in Ethiopia was introduced in 1997 with a bandwidth capacity of 2mb for a subscriber base of 5,000 on first-come-first served basis. The bandwidth has no been upgraded to 10mb to accommodate 14,000 subscribers and thereby lower the intensity of traffic congestion. The ETC has so far extended the range of its services to other major towns such as Makalle, Bahir Dar, Dessie, Shashamane, Nazareth, Awassa, Jimma and Nekempte for connectivity with Internet pops.

According to Ato Abdurahim, the ETC provides two types of services - Dial up connectivity via line 51 34 34 for access to the main Internet server direct from subscribers' residences. Residents of towns with digital automatic exchange links could also have access through Dial-up connectivity. The second service is the Dedicated Leased Line that provides high-speed access to subscribers twenty-hour a day, seven days a week access to the Internet. It was also noted that the ETC could either upgrade or install a new bandwidth for its expansion of services. Presently, there is no queue and any one could enter agreement and process his account in day one of the submission of his/her application. The number of subscribers has now reached 7,079 as of end of August 2002.

It was noted that previous subscriptions were based on categories. For example, those classified as private were put in Category 1 &2 while NGOs and International organizations including embassies were placed in Category 3 and 4 respectively. The prices also differed and Category 4 was charged the highest.

The other distinguishing feature of the previous arrangement was that the charge was time-based - the higher the consumption, the more the payment. The qualitative change now is the abolition of time-based charge to that on consumption. Thus, the consumption fee has been lowered to an unprecedented level of 50% to reach Br.0.11 with progressive decrease in prices along the increase in consumption. The progressive rate of consumption has been fixed at Br.0.11, Br.0.08 and Br.0.06 for a period of 30 min., 30-60 min. and above 60 min. respectively.

The connection and monthly fees for Dial up services has also been reduced to a low of Br.332.00 and Br.23.00 respectively, where a reduction of 43% was noted. The Dedicated Leased Line Service of 64kbts has also undergone tremendous changes. The connection fee has been lowered to a low of Br.1, 872.00 from a high of Br.4, 300.00 while the monthly fee was reduced from Br.8, 600.00 to Br.4, 752.00

The other service that the ETC has been rendering was configuration and the charge for the Dial up and Dedicated Leased Lines have been lowered to Br.172.00 and Br.1, 720.00 respectively. In its bid to attract new subscribers, the ETC has announced that it would render free configuration services from September 11, 2002 to November 9, 2002.

It was hoped that the charge could create ample opportunities for business, educational, health and agricultural establishments to have Internet connections at affordable prices.

The connectivity still depends on the availability of fixed telephone lines across the nation. In this regard the ETC has already implemented its Seventh Development Programme and the Plan for the Eighth is underway. It is planned to increase the telephone penetration rate from 0.3% per 1000 people to at least 1% per 100 people until 2005, thus meeting all demands coming from the urban and rural populations. According to the plan, the number of connected lines would be raised to 800,000 by the end of 2005. The capacity of the exchange lines would also be raised to 1,000,000 lines. The installation of 197 additional Digital Telephone Exchanges at different rural towns with a population of 2,000 and above has also been included in the plan. It was also understood that Sululta Satellite Earth Station would continue to serve as the main international traffic links and communications services to transmit and receive to and from the Indian and Atlantic Ocean Satellites.

On the other hand information from other sources indicated that 25 towns in Amhara and Benishangul-Gumuz states within the jurisdiction of the Northwest Regional Office of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation have got access to virtual satellite (VSAT) telephone links. According to the same source, 21 towns in Amhara State and four towns in Benishangul-Gumuz state have become beneficiaries of the satellite communication services. It was also learnt that towns with automatic digital exchange would now have access to Internet services. In addition, 60 public phones linking directly Gondar, Debre Markos and Bahir Dar towns with other areas have been installed.

One of the remarkable achievements of the Programme will be the replacement of all Analogue Telephone exchanges in the country with Digital ones. This digitalization process of the exchanges would also continue in all cities and towns throughout the country in the years ahead. Steps would also be taken to improve the proven Digital Communication (DDN), Digital TV services, Tele Medicine and Interactive Distance Learning accesses to more than 10 regional towns. The growth of telecommunications infrastructure, on the other hand, is so low that it will take years if not decades to connect the remote areas of the country with the Internet. It is recommended to use the emerging wireless technologies as an alternative to fixed line connectivity. The government should evaluate the spectrum of allocation and licensing policies to ensure that satellite connectivity options allow for a broad range of choices for the connection of underserved areas of the country.

It is hoped that the implementation of the recently announced 30% private capital participation would also hasten the expansion and modernization of the Ethiopian Telecom Sector. On the other hand, the fee for Internet services was lamentably high when compared with the rest of Sub-Saharan African countries and the reductions were appreciable when considered in absolute terms. It is, however, yet to be seen from responses and reactions whether or not the reductions meet public expectations.