Motivated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in 2020 Ethiopia’s telecoms regulator, the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA), announced that it would introduce two new players to the Ethiopian telecoms market, breaking up one of the last telecoms monopolies in the world. With a large, young population with rapidly increasingly digitalisation, Ethiopia was viewed as a goldmine for telecoms operators…Motivated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in 2020 Ethiopia’s telecoms regulator, the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA), announced that it would introduce two new players to the Ethiopian telecoms market, breaking up one of the last telecoms monopolies in the world. With a large, young population with rapidly increasingly digitalisation, Ethiopia was viewed as a goldmine for telecoms operators, with the early parts of the year seeing much speculation and interest from international players around the world. However, the bidding process for the licences themselves was slow going, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, civil strife in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, and legal disputes. For potential operators, the civil war represents a significant challenge, with Ethiopia well known for issuing government orders to shut down networks during internal conflicts.

Source: Ethiopian News January 06, 2022 21:23 UTC