The Telecommunications
Service of Eritrea is the national telecom operator in Eritrea responsible to the
Eritrean Post and Telecommunications Authority
of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The Communications
Department has been established in 1996 as the regulatory body of the
telecommunications sector.
In March 1998, the Eritrean
Government issued a "Communications
Proclamation" which regulates communications (telecommunications,
broadcasting and postal services) in the State of Eritrea. The Proclamation applies
also to sea-going vessels and aircrafts registered in the country and to works,
plants and devices of any kind in connection with offshore activities, but
excludes programme activities related to radio broadcasting and television
transmission.
Pursuant to this Proclamation, the Ministry
of Transport and Communications shall be the only government agency vested with
the regulatory authority of the communications sector, including:
- supervision and promotion of the
provision of communications services in Eritrea; and
- the authority to issue, renew,
revoke or transfer permits, equipment approvals, certificates, assignments of frequency
and other regulatory documents in the communications sector on behalf of the Government of
Eritrea.
And the Communications
Department shall be the body empowered to exercise the regulatory authority of
the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The proclamation authorizes the Department
to determine whether certain activities such as telecommunications networks, services and
broadcasting activities remain monopolized or be liberalized. It monopolizes postal
services designating Eritrean Postal Services (EPS) as the sole operator. Value-added
services, such as the provision of Internet access and mobile phone networks, are open to
competition. Similarly, the supply, manufacture, installation, and servicing of
telecommunications and broadcasting equipment are open to competition.
The proclamation authorises also
the Department to issue guidelines on tariffs charged for provision of communications
services, promote competition, facilitate entry of the private sector into the
communications market, arbitrate disputes, protect end-users from unfair practices,
develop performance standards on the quality of communications services, and monitor the
activities of operators, suppliers and installers.
The proclamation does not apply to
program broadcasting (radio and television). Both activities will remain state monopolies.
This reinforces the press code which does not allow the private sector to operate in the
broadcasting of radio and TV programs.
The Government of the State of
Eritrea (GSE) signed a joint venture agreement with the Korean conglomerate Daewoo
Corporation for a partial privatization of the Eritrean Telecommunications Services in
October 1997. The agreement stipulates that:
- Daewoo owns 45% of the shares and
will invest US$ 45 million. The joint venture company will have an operating capital of
US$ 100 million. Long-term plans of the Eritrean government are to sell the 55% government
share to the private sector.
- Daewoo will maintain monopoly rights
over cellular telephones and that the supply of all other equipment is conducted through
international competitive bids.
- The board of directors of the newly
formed joint venture company will consist of three Eritrean and three Korean nationals and
an Eritrean president of the board.
The new company should have been
formed in January 1998. However, the deal has been delayed due to financing problems
linked with the economic crisis facing the Korean economy. The Communications Department
is still looking for interested joint venture partners in his effort to partially
privatize the telecommunications industry.
On-going projects
- In an effort to expand
telecommunications services to the rural and remote parts of the country, microwave
transmission station under construction, which aims to link western Eritrea to the rest of
country, is near completion.
- Eritrea is participating in
AT&T's Africa One, a project which aims to connect Africa with the rest of the world
through a fiber-optic cable, and has agreed to pay its share in the project which was
estimated to be around US$ 16 million.
- The government estimates that US$
135 million is needed over the next decade to develop the country's telecommunications
networks. The Eritrean Telecommunications Service plans to put another 250 thousand
new lines to bring the current per capita up to over one unit per 100 people by the year
2000, and this is expected to be carried out with or without a joint venture partner.
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The Eritrean
Information Systems Agency (EISA) is a government information and telematics
policy-making and implementation organ responsible to the President's office. EISA
has completed a master plan to improve the application of information and communication
technologies in Eritrea. The ultimate aim of the master plan is to build a Wide Area
Network (WAN) linking various government institutions through a full TCP/IP connection.
Contact Information: Sysop@eisa.gn.apc.org.
AdalNet,
run by Beshir Computec, is a Fido-node which used to be supported by UNECA/PADISnet in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The service became operational in 1994 and it used to offer free
batch and forward e-mail to its customers as well as a local Bulletin Board Service (BBS).
The connection, which has been quite unreliable because of bad telephone switching between
Asmara (Eritrea) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) , has now being disconnected in 1998 following
the resurgence of conflicts between the two countries. Contact Information: Postmaster@adal.gn.apc.org.
The Eritrean Technical
Exchange (ETE), a non-profit project of the International Collaborative for
Science, Education and the Environment, is the major wholesale e-mail provider in Eritrea.
ETE is running a modified UUCP transport over dial-up connections between
the U.S. and Eritrea. The transport includes compression and batching of e-mail in order
to increase the efficiency of the transfers.
Linux PC servers are installed at
the Department of Energy, Asmara University, and two commercial providers: EWAN
Technical Solutions and Tfanus Enterprises. The servers
provide dial-up e-mail services in Eritrea and batching and transport of e-mail to the
Internet. The Linux servers connect to ETE in San Francisco from 3-7
times a day, except for the University of Asmara server which receives its e-mail through
EWAN. The Department of Energy server connects to about 35 institutions, while
commercial providers service several hundred institutions and individuals.
The e-mail user base has
almost expanded to the point where it could financially sustain full TCP/IP connectivity,
if and when a continuous international connection is permitted. ETE is
also the technical administrator for the .ER domain and provides domain name services to
this end. Contact Information: ete@punchdown.org.
HealthNet in Eritrea was set-up in 1994. It is operational to-date, however, there
has been no adequate plan to expand its user base. An expansion plan to cover health
institutions in the country and to expose electronic mail to health professionals is
becoming critical.
