[governance] Ethiopia criminalises the use of VOIP

[Fouad Bajwa]

I wonder why the reaction to this news whereas no one reacted when
Pakistan and Dubai implemented similar restrictions on VOIP and Dubai
going to the extent of criminalizing access to Skype and then both
countries later returned to lesser restrictive policies as soon as
industry organizations, consumer associations and civil society
reacted and talked to governments.

There is more OMG than actually starting a dialogue with governments
why they are doing so. This is an important element that the IGF is
slowly losing, activities and workshops around such topics and getting
those actual authorities and representatives there to share why they
did what they did and why they came about it and developed lesser
restrictive policies.

There is a regional IGF in Africa and its supported by the African
Union. There should be a statement on this to the regional IGF
secretariat requesting it to intervene.

On the other hand, despite the fact that such a ban exists on Skype,
at the end of the day skype is a US based product, oh no, here we go
again!

-- Foo

On Sun, Jun 17, 2012 at 2:50 AM, Sonigitu Ekpe
<sonigituekpe at crossriverstate.gov.ng> wrote:
> +1 to Sala's input
>
>
> --
> Sonigitu Ekpe
> Project Support Officer[Agriculturist]
> Cross River Farm Credit Scheme
> Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources
> 3 Barracks Road P.M.B. 1119
> Calabar - Cross River State, Nigeria.
> Mobile +234 805 0232 469    Office + 234 802 751 0179
>  "LIFE is all about love and thanksgiving"
>
>
> Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro wrote:
>
> 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 ServiceGSM 900 MHz Mobile
> Telecommunication ServiceInternet ServiceDigital 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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