Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers who held its 14th Extraordinary Session, issued a new proclamation calling for the establishment of a new Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. The new body, whose establishment was submitted to the House of People's Representatives for approval, intervenes with the aim of “restructuring the telecommunications market and introducing competition”.
The government, wanting the new body to be “independent, transparent and accountable”, said that the regulatory authority will be responsible, inter alia, “to implement policies related to communication services; to regulate tariffs of communication services in accordance with the regulations; supervise the operators of the communication service and modify, renew, suspend or revoke the licenses”.
These will help the Ethiopian telecommunications market - long monopolized by the incumbent operator Ethio Telecom – to open to foreign investors.
With a “Board of Directors, a Director General, and several Deputy Directors General - if necessary”, the Federal Telecommunications Regulatory Authority will be supervised by the Prime Minister.
