Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia - Ethiomedia

342 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
The underlying policy objective is to “improve the social and economic
well-being of the peoples of Ethiopia through the exploitation of the opportunities
created by ICT for achieving rapid and sustainable socio-economic
development, and for sustaining a robust democratic system and good governance.”
The primary guiding principle for achieving this objective is that
the government will provide strategic leadership—suggesting the maintenance,
at least in the short term, of a public monopoly to deliver ICT.
Regulatory framework. Regulatory functions in the sector are the ETA’s
responsibility, as set out above. As yet, however, the ETA remains closely
associated with the MTC and possesses neither the capacity nor the
powers to enforce quality of service targets, set tariffs, or carry out other
significant regulatory functions that would be expected of a strong
regulator.
As part of a broader study of selected African countries, a telecommunications
regulatory environment perception survey was carried out
in Ethiopia in late 2006 (Adam 2007). Although the unique political
and institutional context in Ethiopia posed methodological challenges
for some aspects of the study, the tentative conclusion was nevertheless
that Ethiopia’s regulatory environment was perceived to be “highly
ineffective” in promoting market entry, quality of service, and regulation
of anticompetitive practices. In comparison with regulatory perception
surveys—which did not simply assess the regulator but also the
entire telecommunications regulatory environment, including the policy
framework and regulatory effectiveness—Ethiopia fared badly, with
the third-most-negative perception of the 10 countries surveyed. Only
two countries, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, were viewed positively in
that survey.
Legislative framework. The legislative framework for the telecommunications
sector in Ethiopia has been developed since 1992. Laws and
regulations (such as telecommunication proclamations, a public enterprises
proclamation, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation
establishment, and telecommunications services regulations) 10 specify
the following:
Procedures to apply for, grant, and terminate an operator’s license
Contents of the license
Duties of the licensee
Duration of a license
Fees for a license