[governance] Ethiopia criminalises the use of VOIP

Sat Jun 16 17:24:52 EDT 2012

My personal view is that each context is different and has unique
challenges. In this instance, Ethiopia Telecommunication Corporation is
licensed to provide the following:-

   - Public Switched Telecommunication Service
   - GSM 900 MHz Mobile Telecommunication Service
   - Internet Service
   - Digital Data Communication

Of the 153 countries ranked in the 2011 IDI ranks as 151 which is very low.
Ethiopia is also classified as a low income economy. Ethiopia is considered
as the second most populous country in Africa and this affects issues of
"accessibility" and teledensity. They are also dealing with their Financial
Crisis and there is a Study on the Impact on Human Development by the UNFPA.

The World Bank Ethiopia Director, Ken Ohashi is reported by Bloomberg in
2011 to have said that Ethiopia's dependence on foreign capital to finance
budget deficits and a five year investment plan is unsustainable.

According to the Bloomberg article, telecommunications is owned by the
State,
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-08/ethiopia-s-investment-plan-may-be-unsustainable-world-bank-official-says.html
.

The challenges of having a sole provider of telecommunications. Is the
market liberalised? Are there incentives for liberalisation.

Liberalisation of markets aside - if VOIP is banned, the first thing that
comes to mind is the inference that the conflict lies between providing
affordable access and operating a business where the bottom line helps to
increase "access".

The Internet Governance Forum is an excellent place that allows developing
countries like Ethiopia who rank very poorly on the IDI to be able to
mingle and discuss history of growth of telecommunications with others from
around the world who are at different stages in development. They may be
inspired to figure our creative and innovative ways and means to advance
access and also give room for innovation and sustainability of business
models.

This is why collaboration and the rich sharing of information and resources
through dialogue. It is normal and usual for people to be in their
comfortable cliques at some of these forums. The rich diversity of the
global landscape and terrain and its challenges truly make the world a
diverse place.
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