The monopoly of telecommunication is mainly ascribed to the torpor in internet economy, so disclosed the Internet Society of Ethiopia.
Media practitioner at Internet Society Ethiopia, Allesandra DeSantillana said that the multi-stakeholder forum aims at preparing the country for the new era of liberalized telecom sector and kick starting the development of the Internet ecosystem for the benefit of citizens and businesses alike.
He capitalized that internet penetration in Ethiopia is currently 18.6 percent which is less than half of the African average. Provided the country is one of the fastest growing economies in the region, holds a strategic geographic location and having a young population of over 105 million, more than 60 percent of which are under the age of 30, connecting and expanding internet access is a key part of Ethiopia’s government strategy to tackle a number of its acute problems such as youth unemployment.
“While internet penetration is increasing about 45 percent annually, Ethiopia has yet to catch up with its peer nations in Africa. The gaps in Ethiopia exist in large pockets of no network zones in rural areas and 4G is only available in the capital. Moreover, Ethiopians are not yet benefiting from the many internet-related services that other countries have to develop their economies as well as to improve the lives of their people,” he noted.
Regional Vice President of Africa, Dawit Bekele on his part noted that when it comes to Ethiopia’s future online, there are many reasons to feel optimistic. The country, which has one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, is strategically placed, and has a population of over 105 million, 60 percent of whom are under the age of 30. All of these are assets to make it a regional digital giant.
Adding he pointed out that this won’t happen unless Ethiopia takes some strategic moves. Internet penetration is still very low compared to it its peers in Africa. The rural areas are still largely unconnected to the internet. Only cities enjoy 3G access and 4G is only available in the capital. In spite of successive price cuts by Ethio telecom last year, the Internet is not affordable to the majority of Ethiopians.
As to him, it is not that the government has not wanted to connect the rural areas. In fact, the rationale that the Ethiopian government had to keep the monopoly was to use the money generated from cities to invest in the rural areas. However, this strategy has clearly not worked since Ethiopia’s rural areas are not better connected than those in countries that have not had a government monopoly on the sector, such as Kenya.
“It is therefore a good news that Ethiopia has liberalized the market, put in place the Universal Service Fund (USF), and is requiring that the new entrants have coverage obligations. However, this should not be all. Unfortunately, both USF and coverage obligations have been used by many countries with limited success. Ethiopia should learn from others’ successes and failures and be open to enquire about new and many complementary solutions to connect rural areas,” he added.
Further he said that Ethiopia also has to build a real Internet ecosystem. As its telecom and Internet market opens up, it needs to build institutions and rules for the new market. It needs an independent Internet Exchange Point (IXP), a CCTLD standing on its own feet, many medium and small ISPs, and other service providers to cater to different needs. This is as much a challenge as an opportunity. On the one hand, Ethiopia, does not have the required expertise, capital, etc. readily available. If it overcomes these hurdles, it will open job opportunities for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians.
He went on to say that but as much as the opportunities are real and exciting, it requires frank and continuous dialogue between the various stakeholders to bring real and positive change. There is no magic solution that is guaranteed to work. Thus, the only way to increase its chances of success is to develop a smart strategy by involving all actors and reviewing the strategy on a very regular basis.
“It is therefore my great pleasure to announce the Ethiopia Internet Development Conference and the establishment of the Ethiopia Chapter of the Internet Society, are both important for this critical national dialogue,” he indicated.
“With less than 20 percent of the population connected, Ethiopia has a tremendous opportunity to expand Internet access and to use it to improve the lives of its people. As one of the oldest nonprofit organizations dedicated to the Internet, we have a long history of working with governments and other partners to help bring connectivity and its perks to countries around the world. We appreciate the support of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology in this event and look forward to working with them to help expand Internet access in Ethiopia for the benefit of its population, whether they are in big cities or in remote areas,” further said Dawit.
The Internet Society (ISOC) has also chartered the Ethiopian Internet Society chapter, a national non-profit organization established under the Ethiopia laws. The chapter shares the vision of the Internet Society that is: “The Internet is for Everyone,” Their mission is to promote the development and use of the Internet as a resource to enrich people’s life.
Speaking about Internet Society Ethiopia Chapter, Adugna Necho, President of the Internet Society Ethiopia Chapter says “The Internet Society Ethiopia Chapter (ISOC) is ready to work with all the stakeholders to ensure an open, secure, trustworthy and affordable internet for everyone in Ethiopia and we welcome individuals from technical and non-technical backgrounds to join our membership and work towards supporting our objectives”.
As to the media practitioner, there are a variety of ways that one can participate as an individual member of the chapter through sharing expertise, building capacity, and working in teams on a community-level project. The chapter also welcomes organizations and partners to contribute to its works and activities by supporting local initiatives that aims to bring the Internet advancing the lives of Ethiopians.
Allesandra mentioned that some of the goals of new Internet Society Ethiopia chapter have entailed promoting Internet as the means to bring about all-round social, economic and cultural development in Ethiopia. And also it provides workshops, special training, and seminars on Internet and Internet Governance. It also supports the current Government’s policy to liberalize the Telecommunication sector through providing complementary and devising alternative policies.
Moreover, it engages in R&D to devise alternative policies on new and emerging issues of the Internet and Internet governance for policy and decision makers. In addition, it introduces and promotes the Internet Society’s vision and mission in Ethiopia. It as well advocates and mobilizes the development and expansion of an open, secure, trustworthy and affordable internet access to all in the country.
It was founded by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet. Working through a global community of chapters and members, the Internet Society collaborates with a broad-range of groups to promote the technologies that keep the Internet safe and secure and to advocate for policies that enable universal access. The Internet Society is also the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
Adding Allesandra said that Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa with more than 105 Million citizens. However, it has relatively low Internet connectivity with less than 15 percent of its population having access to the Internet.
According to him, even those having access to the Internet pay a hefty price for it and are not guaranteed to get reliable connectivity. As a result, Ethiopians are marginalized from the Internet economy, mainly due to a state monopoly on telecommunication.
The new Prime Minister who took the helm of power in April 2018 had a watershed decision to end the state monopoly. The process to liberalize the telecommunication sector started in June 2019 and is going at a very rapid speed. A Telecom regulator under Ethiopian Communications Authority was established in August 2019 and it is expected that two new telecom operators will join the sector in March 2020.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition, March 8/2020
BY MEHARI BEYENE
