Ethiopia opens national consultation on new telecommunications licences

The government of Ethiopia is calling for public input on its plan to liberalise its telecommunications market. In a press release, Ethiopian Communications Authority asked for public views on its intention to ‘issue two additional licenses for telecommunications services operators through a competitive process pursuant to the Communications Services Proclamation of Ethiopia’.

Ethiopia is coming out of a long period of singularlism, which saw multiple Internet shutdowns and arrests of bloggers. A new administration, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who took office last year, has been working to restore pluralism. The country is also in the process of privatising the state telecommunications corporation, Ethio Telecom.