Introduction to Android Programming in Amharic

Tutorials

This tutorial is in Amharic to give some guidance on how you can program a mobile application using Android for beginners and the whole tutorial is organized in step-by-step manner to be very simple to users. The background language is in Java and users required to have a JDK (Java Development Kit) and also the Android Studio to start programming. As every body knows, programming is not easy and it is usually time taking activity specifically for beginners. By following the tutorials one by one starting from Tutorial #1, anyone can start creating a working Mobile Application. This tutorial is used to guide you step by step how you can program using Android Studio a mobile application in Amharic. ይህ መልመጃ Tutorial እንዴት Android Studioን በመጠቀም  የሞባይል ፕሮግራሞችን መፃፍ እንደምትችሉ ደረጃ በደረጃ የሚያስተምር  ቪዲዮ ነው።  Click this link to read more.

Ethiopia plans to give a 15 years Operating License to the new Telecom Operators

Ethiopia plans to give a 15 years Operating License to the new Telecom Operators to join the Ethiopian Telecom Market. According to the government's decision to open the telecommunications sector to the competition, it was announced that two companies that join the sector will be licensed for 15 years. A legal framework for the companies' open bidding is being prepared.

According to the press-conference given by the Director General of the Ethiopian Communication Authority, Balcha Reba, jointly with the Ministry of Finance Senior Advisor Dr. Brook Taye on Tuesday, November 12, 2019, operators licensed to enter the Ethiopian Telecom sector are given 15 years' operation licenses and will be subject renewal when the period expires. As per Dr. Brook, it is understood that some companies are expressing their intentions to enter in the telecom service, but government will announce the bid officially in March and until this date the government has no plan to pre-select bidders.

Africans Face Most Expensive Internet Charges in the World

As per the report from CNN, consumers in African countries are paying some of the highest rates in the world for internet access as a proportion of income, according to a new report released by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) Tuesday, Oct 22, 2019.  A4AI assessed 136 low and middle-income countries for their annual affordability report stating that citizens in a countries like Chad, DR Congo, and the Central African Republic must pay more than 20% of average earnings for 1GB of mobile broadband data where as 1GB of mobile broadband data should not cost more than 2% of average monthly income. By contrast, Egypt at 0.5% and Mauritius at 0.59% are considered to be the most affordable rates in the continent. 

According to the same report, the average rate of 1GB  mobile broadband data across the African continent is 7.12%, of the monthly income and in some cases the 1GB costs more than a 20% of the average earnings.

Please read the full article for more information using the link.

Government of Ethiopia Could Issue More Mobile-phone Network Licenses

Bloomberg published an article titled "Ethiopia Could Sell Majority Stake in State Telecom Monopoly" indicating that Ethiopia may give up majority control over its telecommunications monopoly in the second phase of privatization once it’s sold 49% of the company next year. Referring Mr. Balcha Reba, director-general at the newly established Ethiopian Communications Authority, stated that the government could also issue more mobile-phone network licenses over the long term beyond the two already planned for March 2020. Liberalizing the sector will improve service quality, increase choice for customers and spur investment.

According to the same report, international carriers including Orange SA, MTN Group Ltd. and Vodafone Group Plc’s African unit are among companies that are interested in expanding in Ethiopia, seen as the last major market on the continent closed to independent operators.

Read the full article by Nizar Manek and John Bowker using this link.

Ethiopian Telco Liberalization

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).  

Ethiopia to host World Telecommunication Development Conference, WTDC-2021

The World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) is a conference hosted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) every four years that sets the development agenda for the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D). WTDC give the membership the opportunity to debate the latest trends in telecommunication/information and communication technology (ICT) development and to establish the priorities of the ITU-D for the interval between two WTDCs. They also provide the opportunity to compare the initiatives developed at the regional level during the preparatory process and to integrate them into worldwide development efforts and plans. 

WTDC-17 took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 9 to 20 October, WTDC-14 in Dubai, UAE from 30 March to 10 April, WTDC-10 in Hyderabad, India from 24 May to 4 June, WTDC-06 in Doha, Qatar from 7 to 15 March, WTDC-02 in Istanbul, Turkey from 18 to 27 March, WTDC-98 Valletta, Malta from 23 March to 1 April, and WTDC-94 Buenos Aires, Argentina from 21 to 29 March.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council approved Ethiopia 's request to host the World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2021 (WTDC-21).  The conference will bring more than 5, 000 participants drawn from across the world, according to the report from the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MinT).

See the 3 minute promotional video presented in ITU Council meeting for selection of Ethiopia to host the WTDC-21.

Options for Telecoms Regulators to Encourage Consumers to Engage with the Market

An article published on analysysmason.com written by Chris Nickerson and Ian Streule is exploring the options how telecom regulators, specifically telecoms national regulatory authorities (NRAs) have to intervene to encourage consumers to bring the awareness and knowledge so that they can decide to select one operator from the another. This article assesses the list of tools that NRAs have available to them under two headings – those that enhance the ability of customers to access information, and those that enhance their ability to switch provider.

The Ethiopian telecom market is envisioning to go from total monopoly step-by-step to full liberalization in the near future (hopefully) and it worth reading this article and understand the market on how to regulate the sector effectively.  As a latecomer in the telecom liberalization world, there are many things that we have to learn from other. 

Read the full article using the link below.