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Internet access to be upgraded

Ethiopian Internet access will be upgraded through the UNDP Internet Initiative by Africa programme, in partnership with the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation. Ethiopia’s Internet gateway will be enhanced with extended access through four large-scale regional Internet “points of presence” in Mekele, Awasa, Jima and Dire Dawa, and small-scale points in Bahir Dar, Dese, Shashemene and Nazret, a UNDP statement said on Monday. The project will enable these regions to host their own Internet clients. National capacity will be upgraded from 512 kilobites per second to two megabites per second. “This will relieve congestion and facilitate the transmission of big files, including audio and video transmissions,” the statement said. Ethiopia was expected to be able to increase the number of Internet users from 3,000 to 14,000, it said. The initiative will cost US $1.6 million, and follows a conference on Ethiopia in the Knowledge Age in Addis Ababa last month, organised by the British Council, UNDP and other partners. The UNDP statement said it had helped through the Internet Initiative by Africa programme, 10 sub-Saharan African countries enhance their national Internet gateways, train engineers and technical staff, and build regional training centres. However, a source in the African internet industry criticised the use of UN money “to prop up one of only two remaining state monopolies in retail Internet access in Africa”. The policy was “suffocating the use of the technology and neglecting an opportunity to stimulate the long-suffering private sector”, the source told IRIN.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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