Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) announced today that it has deployed an optical network infrastructure that will help transport high quality voice, data and multimedia services to government departments, companies and the general population.

The new Cisco ONS 15454-based optical transport infrastructure and IP/MPLS core network will also help support the Ethiopian government’s initiative to build nationwide networks that link government, educational institutions and agricultural research centres.

“Our economy is based primarily on agriculture - farming contributes more than half the GDP and our 90%earnings,” explains Ato Tesfaye Biru General Manager of ETC. “However, while this is important, the government recognises that we need alternative long-term growth strategies to create a knowledge-based economy. That is why we are embracing this technology to enhance the education and agriculture sectors, and improve government’s ability to deliver high-quality public services.”

The Ethiopian Government, through its Ministry of Capacity Building (MoCB), enlisted ETC to build a core multiservice network. ETC awarded the tender for this infrastructure to Cisco Systems and its pan-African network and systems integrator, Business Connexion.

“In addition to providing a foundation for connecting business, there are a number of significant social development opportunities presented by the MoCB initiative,” explains Mr. Reza Mahdavi, Cisco Vice president, Emerging and Developing Countries Cisco Systems, . “The Cisco optical and IP/MPLS core infrastructure provides ETC with a scalable and flexible infrastructure to help support these and future government projects.”

The first project is ‘Schoolnet’ – a nationwide network that will provide over 450 secondary, vocational and higher education institutions around the country with network.  It will also help them to receive broadcast TV-based educational content from media agencies.  The ‘school net’ project is already delivering educational content on flat-panel screens in schools from the Ethiopian Media Agency using terrestrial and satellite networks, and the number coming online is steadily increasing.

The second is ‘Woredanet’ – a network that will link almost 600 local (‘woreda’) and 11 regional government offices around the country with each other and, in turn, with the Federal government headquarters in Addis Ababa

A third planned project is ‘Agrinet’ – a network that will potentially link more than 30 research and operational agricultural centres together.

A fibre optic transmission network based on the Cisco ONS 15454 Multiservice Provisioning Platform has been built around Addis Ababa that will transport both mobile and fixed line analogue voice traffic. An IP/MPLS layer provides a single converged core infrastructure based on Cisco MGX 8000 series switches to support existing ATM and Frame Relay networks.  A combination of high speed fixed and microwave links extends this network to other parts of the country – sometimes covering distances as far as 700kms to the most remote areas of the country.

Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), established in 1894, two decades after the invention of telephone itself, is Africa’s first modern telecommunications corporation. It is fully owned by the Ethiopian government and is operated by Ethiopian experts.

With the new millennium telecommunications has become an industry that is highly technology driven and most dynamic, with customer priorities shifting rapidly and continuously.  This and the all-round transformation initiative at national level, are requiring ETC to change the pace and direction of the telecom development-particularly to significantly increase the coverage, penetration as well as quality of telecom (voice, data and video) services at national and international level. 

As part of its transformation, internally ETC is considering:

1. migration from circuit-switched to packet-switched (and converged) network platform to keep pace with the transmission requirements of innovative, high bandwidth services and application;
    
2. system reengineering through IT (in order to create and sustain service excellence though streamlining operations, controlling costs, effectively utilizing resources, introducing quality of work environment and best business practices;
    
3. reorganization of strategic business unit:
    
4. introducing proactive marketing and business development strategies : and
    
5. building its intellectual asset.

Taken together, with the new millennium and all-round government development initiative that identified telecom to be the critical success factor, and the transformation initiatives thereto, ETC is now poised to make a giant step forward in its history-transforming itself into a technologically vibrant and internationally competitive telecom service provider.