Sci-Edu
September 20, 2005
Ethiopian rural areas to receive regular telecommunication services
The Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), the country's only telephone and internet services provider, said on Sunday it plans providing regular telephone and internet access to 18,000 rural areas in the next three years.
Abdurahim Ahmed, senior official with the corporation, told journalists that the plan is part of ETC's five-year strategic plan to expand telephone and internet coverage to the entire country.
Abdurahim said local farmers would have access to regular telephone services within 5-km range during the reported period from existing 30-km range presently.
He said the corporation would install 10,000-km optical fiber lines and replace aged communication systems with up-to-date services.
Moreover, he said, ETC would enable all towns, industrial sites, and tourist attraction sites get access to cellular telephone service.
Abdurahim said the corporation has also planned to sign agreements among 150 countries in Africa, America, Asia, Europe, aimed at providing mobile services.
Ethiopia has suitable geographical feature for satellite communication services, he said, adding that the corporation has plans to lease this opportunity to foreign countries, especially to African countries.
Ethiopia, one of the poorest nations on earth, will expand telephone and internet coverage from a handful of users to the entire country in the next five years.
Currently, there are just 30,000 internet lines in a country of 71 million people, making it one of the lowest users of information technology in the world, according to a study by the World Bank.
The Ethiopian government has begun laying 10,000 km of fiber optic cables and invested around 40 million US dollars in developing its internet service.
Ethiopia has a massive rural population of 57 million people, most of whom make a living as subsistence farmers. Around half the population can't read or write, few have access to newspapers or phones and most have never used a computer.
Source: Xinhua
Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved