Ethiopia’s telecommunications infrastructure is among the least developed in Africa and is almost entirely absent from rural areas, where about 85 percent of the population resides. In 2011, only 829,000 fixed telephone lines were in actual operation (a decrease from 908,000 lines in 2010
[9]), serving a population of 83 million for a penetration rate of less than 1 percent, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
[10] Similarly, as of the end of 2011, internet penetration stood at 1.1 percent, up from 0.75 percent in 2010.
[11] Mobile phone penetration in 2011 was higher at roughly 17 percent with a little over 14 million subscriptions, up from an 8 percent penetration rate in 2010.
[12] While all of the above reflect very slight improvements in access compared to 2010 (except for fixed-telephone lines), such penetration rates represent extremely limited access to ICTs by global comparison.
The combined cost of purchasing a computer, initiating an internet connection, and paying usage charges places internet access beyond the reach of most Ethiopians. A 2010 study by the ITU found that Ethiopia’s broadband internet connections were among the most expensive in the world when compared with monthly income, second only to the Central African Republic,
[13] and merely 27,000 broadband subscriptions were recorded in 2011.
[14] Prices are set by Ethio Telecom and kept artificially high. In April 2011, Ethio Telecom announced a new set of pricing packages,
[15] reducing the subscription charge from US$80 to US$13 and the monthly fee from over US$200 per for unlimited usage to fees of between US$17 and US$41 for between 1 GB and 4 GB of use. By comparison, the annual gross national income (GNI) per capita at purchasing power parity was US$1,110 (or US$92.50 per month) in 2011.
[16] Although the new tariffs have rendered the service slightly more affordable—though still relatively expensive—for individual users, cybercafe owners have complained that the lack of an unlimited usage option could hurt the financial viability of their business.
[17] Furthermore, an adult literacy rate of 30 percent means that the majority of Ethiopians would be unable to take full advantage of online resources even if they had access to the technology.
[18]] Radio remains the principal mass medium through which most Ethiopians obtain information.
The majority of internet users rely on cybercafes to access the web, though connections there are often slow and unreliable. Internet access via mobile phones has grown over the past year,
particularly in semi-urban areas, but slow speeds are a constant problem. A 2010 study commissioned by Manchester University’s School of Education found that accessing an online email account and opening one message took six minutes in a typical Addis Ababa cybercafe with a broadband connection.
[19] The number of cybercafes has grown in recent years and continues to expand in large cities, after a brief period in 2001–02 during which the government declared them illegal and forced some to shut down. Since July 2002, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Agency (ETA) has been authorized to issue licenses for new cybercafes.
The authorities have placed some restrictions on advanced internet applications. In particular, the use or provision of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services or internet-based fax services—including at cybercafes—is prohibited,
[20] with potential punishments including fines and up to five years in prison.
[21] The government instituted the ban on VoIP in 2002 after it gained popularity as a less expensive means of communicating and began to drain revenue from the traditional telephone business belonging to the state-owned Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), or Ethio Telecom.
[22] Despite the restriction on paper, many cybercafes offer the service with few repercussions.
Social-networking sites such as Facebook, the video-sharing site YouTube, and the Twitter microblogging service are available, though very slow internet speeds make it impossible to access video content. International blog-hosting websites such as Blogger have been frequently blocked since the disputed parliamentary elections of 2005, during which the opposition used online communication to organize and disseminate information that was critical of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
[23] In addition, for two years following the 2005 elections, the ETC blocked text-messaging via mobile phones after the ruling party accused the opposition of using the technology to organize antigovernment protests. Text-messaging services did not resume until September 2007.
[24]
Around May 26, 2011, on the eve of a planned opposition demonstration inspired by anti-government protests in the Middle East and celebrations for the anniversary of the ruling party coming to power, the internet was cut off for at least half a day.
[25] It remained unclear whether the cause of the shutdown was a deliberate government attempt to restrict communication at a sensitive time, a technical problem, or sabotage of a fiber-optic cable. Separately, when high-profile international events, such as a meeting of the African Union, have taken place in Addis Ababa and other major cities, the government has redirected much of the country’s bandwidth to the venues hosting visitors, leaving ordinary users with even slower connections than usual.
Ethiopia is connected to the international internet via satellite, a fiber-optic cable that passes through Sudan and connects to its international gateway, and another cable that connects through Djibouti to an international undersea cable.
[26] In an effort to expand connectivity, the government has reportedly installed several thousand kilometers of fiber-optic cable throughout the country in recent years.
[27] There are also plans in place to connect Ethiopia to a global undersea cable network through the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) project. The EASSy project itself was completed and launched in July 2010, but its effects on Ethiopia have yet to be seen.
[28] The government has sought to increase access via satellite links for government offices and schools in rural areas. WoredaNet, for instance, connects over 500
woredas, or local districts, to regional and central government offices, providing services such as video conferencing and internet access. Similarly, SchoolNet connects over 500 high schools across the country to a gateway that provides video- and audio-streamed educational programming.
[29] The impact of such projects has been limited, however, as internet speeds across these networks remain almost prohibitively slow and outages are common.
