Ethiotime1
Selamawit Abebe, a young online business developer, spends the better half of her day working away at her computer. The recent graduate secured herself several remote positions as a freelance content creator.
As ideal as it may sound, her work is constantly halted by the ever-faltering nature of the internet connection in Ethiopia. She assumed her home-based Wi-Fi router was causing the problem, so she purchased a portable router as a backup. She now has to pay 1,900 birr in total for both on a monthly basis while getting only a trickle of connection, if any from either.
“I have had several occasions where I was unable to listen to briefs about my tasks on Zoom calls because my internet wasn’t stable. Keep in mind that I’ve subscribed to wireless connection on top of an unlimited data plan and a portable Wi-Fi, and yet here we are,” she grumbles.
Even though the previously sole network provider, ethio telecom, has tremendously increased the internet outreach for Ethiopia’s customers, access to quality service remains farfetched even for clients like Selamawit, who pay premium prices hoping for returns from the budding e-commerce in the country. At a time and age where the internet is the decisive technology of the Information Age, the connection speed and quality provided to a majority of the customers are met with complaints.
Sisay Geremew, Ethio telecom’s director for Fixed Network and Operations, says that the problems the customers are facing might be due to several issues, but when it comes to access, they are doing a lot to fix it, including changing infrastructures that support better access to the internet.
“We’re migrating our services from copper to fiber, even with residential users. We’re building an optical distribution network as well. We’re advancing technology as a whole,” he said.
The state telecom has undeniably increased the outreach of the internet across Ethiopia. Regardless of the significant surge in the number of internet users, Ethiopia’s internet penetration rate stood at 25 percent of the total population in early 2022.
On top of access being a hassle, even those who have access to the Internet pay a hefty amount for it. Access is also expensive when compared to other East African countries, especially when it comes to the quality of the network and its reliability. As a result, Ethiopians risk being marginalized by the Internet economy.
Fortunately, this is changing since the state monopoly on telecommunications that was the root cause of most of the problems has been abolished. Competition is on the horizon, as Kenya-based Safaricom has become the first private telecom operator in Ethiopia, launching its service in Addis Ababa on October 6, 2022.
People whose livelihoods depend on the internet, like Selamawit, have already started eyeing out the new competitor in the market despite not knowing what they could expect.
“What is the worst that could happen? I already spend too much on internet access and I barely get any, so I might as well try something new,” she added, elaborating how she feels swindled out of something she should clearly be getting already.
Some customers have voiced their concerns over the data speed they are subscribing to and the much lower data speed they are getting. Many customers complain of paying more money for better speed but ending up receiving slow internet. Robera Haile, a business man who is considering switching his network provider, says that he has voiced his concerns several times to ethio telecom but has seen no changes in the speed. Instead, he and his family are faced with the connection to their Wi-Fi going on hiatus for days.
“Tele has not provided us any compensation for our loss yet God forbid we are late on payments and they would be quick to cut the network. I personally think the relationship between customer and service provider should be mutual,” he says. He also attributes ethio telecom’s monopoly in the market for so long as creating this belief that customers would keep growing no matter how bad their services get.
Mesay Woubshet, chief communication officer at ethio telecom, assures The Reporter that if customers face any delays for seven days, they will not be billed or compensated for it. “The issue might be that customers forget to report the problem. If it is reported, our staff takes care of it as soon as possible and customers can be refunded if it doesn’t work,” he said, adding that there are a lot of reasons why a network could be halted and it isn’t always the provider’s fault.
“The customer’s way of using it could be an issue too. Sometimes what they subscribe to and what they use it for may not align, the routers they use might be outdated, and so many other problems,” he adds.
In the days after Safaricom launched service in Ethiopia just last week, some customers wasted no time in purchasing Safaricom SIM cards to get better access to the internet and the network as a whole. Although some customers are waiting it out to see if there are any side effects to switching providers, most are eager to switch as soon as they can.
Selamawit, along with her family, have already decided to try out the new provider since they are not getting their money’s worth in regards to speed or quality from their current network provider. “I am honestly just waiting to see if ethio telecom ups its game. I heard the data on Safaricom is exceptionally fast, even if it’s a bit more expensive. But I will take those odds unless ethio telecom improves the poor service,” hopes Selamawit.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings