BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF TELECOM SECTOR IN ETHIOPIA

BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF TELECOM SECTOR IN ETHIOPIA

BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF TELECOM SECTOR IN ETHIOPIA

Telecommunications service was introduced in Ethiopia by Emperor Menelik II in 1894 when the construction of the telephone line from Harar to the capital city, Addis Ababa, was commenced. Then the interurban network was continued to expand satisfactorily in all other directions from the capital. Many important centers in the Empire were interconnected by lines, thus facilitating long distance communication with the assistants or operators at intermediate stations frequently acting as verbal human repeaters between the distant calling parties.

1894-1942

Organizational Structure

In that particular period,  Ethio telecom had been renamed and restructured through different stages.

  • First, the management of the service was under the Imperial Court of Menelik II in the name of the “CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OF TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEM OF ETHIOPIA” from 1890 up to 1907. Mr. Stevenin, a French citizen, was appointed as the General Manager of the service.
  • The service was renamed as “THE CENTRAL OFFICE OF POST, TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE (PTT) SYSTEM OF ETHIOPIA” since 1907-1909. It was administered by Emperor Menilik II’s Advisor, Mr. Al Fred Ilg, a Swiss man.
  • Then the service was renamed as “MINISTRY OF POST, TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE (PT and T)” in 1910. First, it was administered by Mr. Leo Shafno, a French citizen and then replaced by the first Ethiopian administrators Lij Gizaw Bezabih, Lij Beyene Yimer and their successors consecutively.

1894-1942

Post War Restoration

After the independence from the Italian occupation, the re-established Ministry of PT and T took over the running of Telephone, Telegraph and Radio communications. It, therefore, rehabilitated the network of the whole country.

Under the Imperial Regime

The Imperial Board of Telecommunications of Ethiopia (IBTE) was established by the proclamation No. 131 on October 15, 1952

The main purpose of the Board, as stated in its establishment charter of article 5 was
“to rehabilitate, extend, repair and maintain the telecommunication facilities of Ethiopia and to engage in the business of telecommunication for profit.”

In 1960, IBTE looked after the operational matters of central Ethiopia, and a dedicated regional office was created in Addis Ababa. At the same time, a radio division was created separately from the preceding Technical Division, bringing the number of division offices to seven.

1942-1952

Under the Dergue regime

Under the Dergue regime, the Ethiopian telecommunications was renamed as follows:

  • In October 1975, the organization was renamed as “THE PROVISIONAL MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF SOCIALIST ETHIOPIA TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES”
  • It was renamed again as “ETHIOPIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY (ETA) on January 1981. It retained its name as ETA up to November 1996.

At this period, the telecommunication services had made a major change of technology ranging from Automatic to Digital technology.

1974-1991

Under the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

The telecommunications sector was restructured and two separate independent entities namely the Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority (ETA) and the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) were established by Proclamation No. 49/1996 on November 1996.

1991-Present

Establishment of ethio telecom

As a continuation of the 2005/06-2009/10 five-year plan and after concentrating its efforts on education, health and agriculture, the Ethiopian government has decided to focus on the improvement of telecommunication services, considering them as a key lever in the development of Ethiopia, ethio telecom is born, on Monday 29th November 2010, from this ambition of supporting the steady growth of our country, within the Growth Transformation Plan (GTP), with ambitious objectives for 2015.

Zemen GEBEYA

Zemen Gebeya
Launched

2025

telebirr Engage

telebirr Engage
Launched

2024

VoLte

VoLte
Launched

2023

5G commercial launch

5G commercial launch
At Addis Ababa & Jigjiga

2023

telebirr SuperApp

telebirr SuperApp
Launched

2023

Tele Cloud

Cloud Based
Service Launched

2023

Cloud Based Omni Channel

Cloud Based Omni
Channel Contact
Center Launched

2023

Regional Rollout

Regional Rollout

2022

Financial Service

Financial Service
Launched

2022

5G

5G Launched

2022

Mobile Money

Mobile Money Launched

2021

Modular Data Center

Modular Data Center
Launched

2021

Regional Rollout

Regional
Rollout

2021

LTE Advanced

LTE Advanced
Launched

2020

Reform

Reform

2018

TExA

TExA
Established

2016

4G LTE Service

4G LTE Service
Launched

2015

Ethio telecom Transformation Program


Ethio telecom
established through
transformation program

2010

NGN Project

NGN project
increased fixed
and mobile
infrastructure capacity

2006

Mobile Service

Mobile service
introduced in
Ethiopia

1998

Internet Service

Internet service
launched

1997

The First Long Distance Line

The first long distance
line built connecting
Addis Ababa with
Djibouti

1902

Post, Telegraph and Telephone

Post, Telegraph and
Telephone Central
Administration
established

1894

Full Telephone Government In Offices

Full telephone
started connecting
government offices

1890

First Telephone Started

First telephone
service started within
Emperor Menelik’s palace

1889

First Practical Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell
patented the first
practical telephone

1872