The Government of Ethiopia has announced earlier this year to share the ownership and privatize the Telecom sector. The news at that time was very generic and professionals in the sector was discussing formally and informally what is best for the sector. The initial news was not detailed on clarifying the issue whether the sector is thought to be open to shareholders to privatize partially or to liberalize it fully. Both approach will have pros and cons for the case of Ethiopia considering the size and reach of the current state owned operator and of-course the issue is debatable. There are some professionals arguing that moving step-by-step from partial liberalization to full liberalization is best for the country, but others equally worried how this gradual movement will lead to a full liberalization quickly. Apart from that, most people that are engaged in the sector supports the splitting of the current telecom operator so that the current company can survive the stiff computation that may come when the sector is full liberalized.
Nevertheless, the recent official announcement through press conference by Ministry of Finance indicated that the current state owned operator will split in to an infrastructure provider and telecom services provider. In addition, the share of the private ownership will be less that 50% by putting the muscle of the government stronger. The other major information in the news is allowing two other independent operators to work along with the partially government owned telecom services provider in the Ethiopian telecom market. Certainly, this move will have a flavor of both thoughts, partially liberalizing and opening the sector for full computation.
The above major decisions came from policy makers, while in parallel the Ethiopian Communications Regulatory Authority (abbreviated as ECA), is under establishment. It is true that some policy directions are mandatory for a sector to follow so that there will be a coherence to the overall national development plan of the country. But in this regard, there are some professionals thinking that the decision on the number of international telecom companies that will join the telecom market could have been first studied and decided by ECA latter on. There may be some preliminary studies and analysis already done on the availability of the spectrum to bring new operators in the market. But, to decide on the number of operators, an exhaustive assessment and planning could have been prepared by the telecom regulatory agency. As an autonomous and independent body, following these processes will facilitate to the agency the full ownership of the result of the assessment and also the output/outcome that will be derived from the engagement in the future.
In general, the announcement and the policy direction towards the full liberalization of the telecom sector in the country is appreciated by people in the sector by noting that future discussion is mandatory to make the transition more efficient.
... by Mesfin Belachew (PhD).
... by Mesfin Belachew (PhD).
