According to the Director General of the Ethiopian Communication Authority (ECA), the organisation is making preparations to publish a call for expressions of interest for a third telecom provider at the beginning of February 2023.
On November 16, 2022, the authority published a request for stakeholder participation for the third telecoms operating licence. This development is a direct result of that announcement.
The Director General of the ECA, Balcha Reba, stated that there is a significant opportunity for the country to accommodate a second telecom operator, “ECA has now resumed the licensing process for a third license or the second new full-service nationwide telecommunications license.”
“We have invited different international consultation companies to evaluate the document,” he added.
“Preparations are underway to float an expression of Interest to bring potential investors who can acquire the third licence or the second new full-service licence.”
The regulatory body is enthusiastic about inviting prospective bidders and any other parties who might be interested to take part in a consultation process.
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The Analysis of Events
In accordance with the findings of the stakeholder consultation document, the granting of the licence will take place within the first three months of 2023 and will involve a competitive procurement process.
In a manner comparable to this, it will publish an expression of interest in the beginning of February, and it will continue to be accessible for one month following an analysis of the coverage of all responses from stakeholders for the next month. In relation to other forms of financial activity, it is asserted that the prospective new entrant will be granted permission to provide mobile financial services once they have satisfied the requirements set forth by the National Bank of Ethiopia.
Previous Developments Surrounding Ethiopia Telecom
In October 2018, the Ethiopian government announced its decision to move forward with the reform of the country’s telecommunications sector. This decision was made in order to advance the implementation of the government’s economic reform agenda and to increase competition in the telecommunications sector in the context of bettering market conditions. Additionally, the decision to move forward with the reform of Ethiopia’s telecommunications sector was announced.
The government issued a request for proposals in June 2020 for two more telecom licences. However, only one new operator was selected. Therefore, the ECA cancelled the B bid for the other licence once it was determined that only one new operator would be needed.
After the cancellation, on September 28, 2021, ECA issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the second brand-new full-service national Telecommunications Service License. At the time of the RFP’s release, the bidding process was still ongoing. The ECA made the announcement in December 2021 that the bidders had temporarily withdrawn their bids, which brought a halt to the procedure that had been going on up until that point. ECA indicated in a statement to the industry that it had received “concerns and requests from many prospective bidders to delay the process” regarding the follow-up. The message was in reference to the follow-up.
After two previous attempts to win, the bid is currently being resubmitted for a third time.
The ECA awarded Ethiopia’s first-ever competitively-tendered Unified Telecommunications Operator License to the Global Partnership for Ethiopia (“License A”) on May 31, 2021. This private partnership is made up of Safaricom (Kenya), Vodafone Group (UK), Vodacom Group (South Africa), CDC Group (UK), and Sumitomo Corporation (Japan). They are now doing business as Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia.
At the moment, the government is in the process of selling off a forty percent stake in the publicly traded company Ethio Telecom.