Ethiopia's opening up of telecommunication industry for new telecom service operators will facilitate its digital transformation efforts and attract related businesses, Innovation and Technology Digital Transformation Program Director Abiyot Bayou said.
Following Ethiopia's telecom liberalization move, the global consortium made up of Safaricom, Vodafone, Japan's Sumitomo, and UK finance agency CDC Group was awarded telecom operator license and expected to commence services in 2022, it was learned.
The director told ENA that the opening up for new telecom operators will lay the foundations essential for digital economic transformation and will positively affect the entire telecom related services and businesses in Ethiopia.
"The opening up of the telecom service for other new telecom service operators will not only positively affect the telecommunication sector, but will also bring positive impact on the entire service providers related to it," Abiyot said.
The liberalization process, according to him, will scale up the status of the digital foundations, essential to further build digital economy in the country.
"In order to build digital economy," Abiyot said "digital foundations such as infrastructures are essential as every service can be built upon these digital foundations."
The investments on the digital foundations, he believes, will attract value adding businesses. "Businesses that add value using the telecom infrastructure will be showcased."
The liberalization processes will be reflected in the country's policy and will be crucial to gain experiences, create jobs and investments, he added.
Tarik Malik, CEO of Extensia, a company that provides essential support services to policymakers, regulators, service providers, major end users, and solution providers across the African Telecom and ICT Ecosystem, lauded Ethiopia's encouraging move to liberalize long-time monopolized telecom industry.
"With the new liberalization process, we have a second operator, Safaricom Ethiopia, and that is going to be a fantastic move for Ethiopia, for Safaricom, and the Ethiopian public," Tarik said.
"ICT telecom is main enabling service for change in Africa, for agriculture, health and education," the CEO pointed out.
"Telecom plays very pivotal role in the government's philosophy and strategy connecting Ethiopia and the African continent," he added