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By Tamiru Geda
Posted to the web on February 14, 2008 |
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February 14, 2008 - Several Ethiopians who live in Exile expressed their concern and disappointments of the state owned Telecommunication operator , ETC for its poor quality services and losing their money and time for nothing. According to those complaints, when ever they make calls back to home their calls mostly diverted to an individual who behalves as he were a business man and tries to call their relatives while the phone is opened.
Ato Gethaun Assefa, one of the complaints who resides in Verginia, America said that these time, contacting his families and friends , who live in Addis is unlikely.” When ever I tried to talk with my families on their mobiles , I quite often encounter with a person who says to me Wait ! wait!. Then after the same person pretends as if he were calling my families/ friends who are next to him” Getahun said. In his views he and his friends who live in the same apartment spend more than ten US dollars /per week with out contacting their families because of the bad Connection and their Calls are being hijacked by unknown individuals in Ethiopia, none of them are part of their families. “sometimes this person turn on his Tape recorder and enforced me to listen Amharic music that I have ever listened before”
He also revealed his concern that Jamming and censorship against some of foreign radio stations and Ethiopians Web sites like VOA, DW, Ethio-media , Ethiopian Reviews, Addis Voice, Ethiopian Media forum (EMF) …etc respectively is understood, but trapping individual’s Telephone calls is strange and unheard even in the previous regimes. “I knew that senior officials such as Dr.Kassu Illaa, former Minster of Transport and Communication were saying in public that the country is not ready for privatization of ETC, and for them the Telecom sector is a milking business, while people were suffering from the poor quality of the Telecommunication services” Gethaun
EPRDF’s officials always deny the criticisms and said that they have no idea about those accusation and about the matters.
Wrt. Haimanot, who lives in London also shares her Experience with ETC .”I have made several attempts to contact my mum in Addis on her cell phone, unfortunately a man picked the phone up and told me to wait for my mum . This man always says ; Hello please hold on the phone ,you have a call.. . Actually I know that my mother always keeps her mobile phone with her” when I asked him if the Telephone number belongs to my mother or not he declines to reply for my questions ;instead he keeps going on saying you have a call…sometimes I laugh at him rather showing my anger” Haimanot said
ETC is one of the public enterprises, that is exposed for corruption, mismanagement specially in tenders and foreign procurements.
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