[kictanet] Ethiopia and the Technical Control of OTTs

[Ali Hussein]

Moses

Ethiopia is a special case and I dare say that their handling of the ICT Sector will be hugely detrimental to the country going forward.

Pundits say that Ethiopia's stance vis a vis Kenya's in the ICT sector can be seen in how the two countries compare in the development of the sector.

Access to information cannot be substituted with anything else. Not even Totalitarian Government. 

Ali Hussein
Principal
Hussein & Associates
+254 0713 601113 / 0770906375

Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim


"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi

Sent from my iPad

> On 4 Apr 2016, at 3:15 PM, Mose Karanja via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> 
> Jambo! 
> 
> Ethiopia’s only telco, Ethiotel, has announced it will be charging for VOIP services considering they are loosing revenue to the Vibers and WhatsApps of these world. 
> They floated a Request for Information on the supply of Policy and Charging Control (PCC) and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) mid last year: http://www.ethionet.et/sites/default/files/bid/RFQ-3209012.pdf
> 
> It seems the set up is complete and they will go ahead with implementation (http://www.addisinsight.com/ethio-telecom-charge-services-like-viber-whatsapp/).  There have been network disruptions since last week on VOIP apps and some basic probes I did pointed to IP address blocking but whatever it is they are doing notwithstanding, this raises some issues here. 
> 
> The fight back from telcos against OTTs in the name of revenue/tax/infrastructure costs seems to have moved beyond policy. Technical capacity implies that debate is closed on their end. Ethiotel is a special case considering it is fully owned by the government and it is the only telco in Africa’s second most populous country (around 95Million people). It is easier for them to make decisions. For countries with more liberalised markets, and where government is a regulator not a service provider, could it be that the only impediment to adopting such technical capacities is government regulation and oversight? Could it be that Kenyans, for example, are charged to use WhatsApp but at a very negligible fee that no one notices? 
> 
> This moves beyond the market - it is a human rights issue. Consumers should not be punished for adopting innovations. 
> 
> Moses. 
> 
> ---
> Moses Karanja | @Mose_Karanja | PGP: 0x1529552F
> 
> 
> 
> 
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