The Ethiopian Communications Authority (

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: የኢትዮጵያ ኮምኒኬሽን ባለስልጣን, ECA) is the part of the

Ethiopian government The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal republic, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister is the hea ...

which regulates the

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

and postal sectors of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Its primary objective is to promote the development of high quality, efficient, reliable and affordable communications services in Ethiopia. It is also accountable to the Prime Minister; its current Director General is Engineer Balcha Reba since 2019.

History

The introduction of telecommunication service in Ethiopia dated back during the reign of Emperor

Menelik II Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...

in 1894. He introduced telephony while his cousin, Ras Mekonnen pioneered the first telephone after visiting Italy and returned to Ethiopia and established his company. In early 20th century, the company was under the control of the government and later brought to Ministry of Post and Communications. In 1952, the telecommunication service was separated from postal administration and was administered by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. At the time, the service went under Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC). Under the

Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...

regime, ETC was split into two entities: the Ethiopian Telecommunications Service (ETS) from October 1975 to February 1981 and the Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority (ETA) in January 1981. Both ETS as well as the ETA were responsible for telecommunication regulation and operation in Ethiopia. Under

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

regulation number 10/1996, ETA was replaced by ETC in which all of its rights has been transferred to ETC. There are 966 public service stations and exchanges across the country. By 2010, ETC has a target to reach telecom service to 15,000 rural

kebeles A ward (; ; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. Somali word that has meaning of collected people where water is fairly sufficient and available to prolongue their ...

. The number of telecom access has been increased in rural kebeles from only 60 in 2004/05 to 8 676 in 2007/08. The number of cellular mobile broadband network access skyrocketed five times of 2004/5 by 2007/8, reaching 1,954,527. In 2005, ETC installed fiber optic backbone that spans 4,000 km in six radiating directions: from

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, to

Dire Dawa Dire Dawa (; , meaning"where the Dir (clan), Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", , Harari language, Harari: ድሬዳዋ, lit. "Plain of Medicine"; ) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Somali Region and Oromia, Oromo borde ...

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

Dessie Dessie (; also spelled Dese or Dessye) is a town in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the South Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, it sits at a latitude and longitude of , with an elevation between 2,470 and 2,550 metres above sea level. Dessie ...

Mekelle Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...

Bahir Dar Bahir Dar () is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The city is known for its wide avenues li ...

Nekemte Nekemte, also spelled as Neqemte (, Amharic: ነቀምት), is a market city and separate woreda in western Ethiopia. Located in the East Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, Nekemte has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,088 mete ...

Jimma Jimma () is the largest city in southwestern Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of . Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administrativ ...

and

Hawassa Hawassa (; ʾäwasa, also spelled Awassa or Awasa) known historically as Adare is a city in Ethiopia, on the shores of Lake Hawassa in the Great Rift Valley. It is south of Addis Ababa via Bishoftu, east of Sodo, and north of Dilla. The ...

, delivering digital radio and television, internet and other multimedia services. In January 2005, ETC was transferred from narrowband to broadband with its first introduction of Internet, broadband

VSAT A very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) is a two-way satellite ground station with a satellite dish, dish antenna that is smaller than 3.8 meters. The majority of VSAT antennas range from 75 cm to 1.2 m. Bit rates, in most cases, range from 4 ...

and broadband multimedia infrastructure was viewed as major milestone over decade. The current Director General of ETC is Balcha Reba since September 2019.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Telecommunications in Ethiopia Telecommunications regulatory authorities

History

See also

References

External links