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The Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) has published a Request For Proposals (RFP) for its second new full‐service telecommunications license in Ethiopia,inviting both international and national telecommunications companies to take part in the sealed bidding  process.  

Marking the next phase of the widely heralded liberalisation of Ethiopia’s telecoms market, the second license (License B) is due to be issued in January 2022, introducing a third telecom operator to compete alongside Ethio Telecom and the global partnership for Ethiopia ( Safaricom Telecommunincations Ethiopia PLC ), and help boost the digital trasformation in the country.

Since winning the first lLicense (License A) in June 2021, the Global Partnership for Ethiopia has quickly established its local headquarters in Addis  Ababa and is preparing to launch its services to the Ethiopian people. 

The second license will include Mobile Financial Services and additional spectrum allocation and will have revised pre-qualification criteria to include participation from wide range of international and national telecommunincations operators.

Eng.Balcha Reba, director general of the ECA commented, “The goal of liberalizing our telecoms sector has always been to drive competition and attract greater private sector investement as a key part of Ethiopia’s digital transformation.

Following our successful first license issuance earlier this year to one of the world’s largest international telecoms consortia, we have continued with our mission and now we want to encourage more telecoms operators, of all sizes to be part of this exciting opportunity.”

The ECA is well positioned to deliver a process that is both transparent and fair and continues to manage the license issuance process, which will be taking place in parallel with the partial privatisation of of Ethio Telecom.

This is a separate process due to be concluded before the closing date for the license B bid submission dealline. At the end of the licensing process, there will be three operators with licenses to deliver high-quality telecommunications serivce in Ethiopia: Ethio Telecom, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia and the new license B holder.

Bidders have until December 20, 2021 to respond to the RFP, which includes Investment Considerations. 

The final selection will be announced following a thorough evaluation of the proposals according to the pre‐defined criteria, and the License B  will be granted to the winning applicant, in accordance with the Communications Services Proclamation  of Ethiopia.    

Opening Ethiopia’s telecommunications market to greater competition will maximize the opportunities presented by the digital economy: reliable and  accessible communications for the Ethiopian people leading to improved quality of life, improved connectivity to support rapid economic transformation and growth, job opportunities as a result of having best in class tech, and both local and inward investment. 

Ethio Telecom announced that it has successfully deployed its “Next Generation Business Solution System” which the company said has a capacity of serving 80 million subscribers. The new technology, Ethiopia’s telecom service provider declared, can handle 41,800 transactions per second, and process 2.7 billion files per day.

The deployed system is fully cloud-based, Ethio Telecom related, and it is built with a full-fledged local redundancy in a secondary site that guarantees 24/7 reliability.

The new system has the flexibility of developing personalized products and services to customers in a very short period of time. Moreover, the system enables us to enhance the telecom service we are delivering and boost our customer experience.

In the Ethiopian fiscal year that started on July 8, 2021, Ethio Telecom aims to reach 64 million subscribers, and generate over 70 billion birr in revenues.

Source (Including Image): Ethio Telecom (Website and Twitter)

December 20, 2019 (Ezega.com) — In today’s world of wireless communications, high definition televisions, and global access to the Internet, many people are unclear about what satellite technology means and the inherent advantages of satellite communications.

In this period of high technology, it is impossible to achieve sustainable development without technology. The use of satellite communications is one of them.

Space study is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world. Mankind has always been eager to find out what is outside the world where we live. This curiosity has led humans to invent various tools over the years, including telescopes, space vehicles, and satellites.

The first fictional depiction of a satellite being launched into orbit was a short story by Edward Everett Hale, Moon. The idea surfaced again in Jules Verne’s The Begum’s Fortune in 1879.

The first manmade satellite was Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 under the Sputnik program, with Sergei Korolev as chief designer. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1’s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the so-called Space Race within the Cold War.

From those days on, there has been fierce competition to develop the latest and greatest satellites by different countries to explore space.

In addition to space exploration, a ground observation of the earth we live in is done by satellites. Satellite can record a wide array of changes and movements on earth.

Satellites are used to monitor climate change, predict weather forecasts, and provide protection. These are the kinds of capabilities Ethiopia is acquiring with the launch of ETRSS-01, a seven-kilo gram satellite that was launched from China this week.

The Launch was a historic moment for Ethiopia. The satellite named the “Ethiopian Remote Sensing Satellite – 01” (ETRSS-01) is anticipated to provide information on agriculture, mining, environment, climate protection, and geology, among other things.

ETRSS-01 satellite was developed by the Chinese along with many Ethiopian experts who have joined forces during the design and building process. Reportedly, a total of 210 million US dollar was spent on the satellite.

The satellite’s information system is built at Entoto on the periphery of Addis Ababa, whereby its inception and control are done entirely by Ethiopian space specialists.

The Ethiopia government has received $10 million in funding from various bodies and has allocated additional resources for the success of the launch.

“Even though the launching happened from China, its controller and the commander is Ethiopia,” Ethiopia Science and Technology Institute Director-General, Dr. Solomon Belay told reporters.

While many questions about the importance of space research in a developing country like Ethiopia, Dr. Solomon says: “Space is a question of survivability for a country like Ethiopia, and not a luxury”. “In an age where global climate threatens the world, it is wise to get information before any natural disaster strikes,” he added.

“The satellite can predict conditions before a disaster actually happens and In a country where agriculture is the primary means of economy, the satellite will provide information on where the productive and fertile areas are and how there will be a change of climate across many areas,” the Director-General emphasized.

According to Mr. Solomon, by using the information collected from the satellite, one can easily identify productive areas and know the exact amount of production.

“With the growing expansion of industries and Industrial Parks, it is important that the government know the suitable area of constructing the parks. Also, a satellite is best option to count our population, these are how we can save human as well as capital resources,” Solomon noted when explaining the importance of ETRSS-01.

During his statement, the Director-General also talked about how the satellite can only be used for peaceful purposes. “In principle, the space is used for peaceful activity and it is not used for warfare.” As a member of the International Space Station, the country has to live by its principles and away from acting in an unguided way.

Before the Launching of The Ethiopian Remote Sensing Satellite – 01 (ETRSS-01), Ethiopia used to get information from satellites owned by other countries.

According to a study made five years ago, Ethiopia spends a yearly amount of 250 million ETB to buy satellite information.

As urbanization and investment increases, so does the importance of the information. Therefore, satellite inclusion is expected to reduce these costs.

In this regard, the Director-General of Ethiopian Science and Technology Institute is optimistic that Ethiopia can start big business in selling satellite information to other countries that do not have satellite systems.

“We sell information when needed. It is also possible to exchange information with countries that have advanced technologies,” he said.

African countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, and Egypt have made some headway in the use of such technology, including satellite Communication, while Ethiopia is considered a beginner in terms of using such technology.  

Most of the United Nations goals set to be achieved by 2030 include space technology which shows that the sector should not be neglected.

Once launched, the satellite will be used for a minimum of three to four years, but more likely longer than that. In general, satellites have a useful life of 5-15 years.

With the launch of ETRSS–01, many hope Ethiopia will be on the way to achieve the objectives of its Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTPII).