By Ahmed Mohammed
Ethiopia’s newest Copper Switch Off Initiative got off the ground via the nation’s telecom giant, ethio-telecom.
"Copper Switch Off" puts in place a supra-modern wired broadband Internet and data-based voice services by converting copper lines to fiber.
Frehiwot Tamru, who still holds the top job at the centenarian operator, hailed the newly introduced initiative, mentioning its use to replace the previous copper service which she says has served the telecom industry for more than 150 years.
The new initiative is expected to allow wired telecom service customers to switch from their existing copper line to fiber line for free.
While transferring 100,000 copper customers to fiber this Ethiopian fiscal year, the state-owned telecom operator’s latest initiative will enable 31,000 customers to change their lines in the first phase.
Plans to change the services of 10,000 customers to the fiber network by replacing the copper network are in the pipeline, EBC World learnt.
Out of these, 60,000 customers will be migrated in Addis Ababa, and 40,000 customers in regional areas, the company revealed.
As part of the ongoing efforts to modernize its network and enhance service delivery, ethio telecom asserted that it is moving forward with the copper network switch-off.
“We strongly believe that this initiative will accelerate Ethiopia’s digital transformation, energize the economy, and foster national development, all while making our country more competitive in the global digital landscape,” she underscored.
With the latest fiber network line, the applications used by customers to streamline and update their operations will not only enable them to meet their needs in a better way, but the current fiber network will not change and will increase the capacity from 1G to 10G and even to 50G as the customer's needs grow.//