The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) plans to expand various telecom services across the country at a cost of 10.6 billion birr (around 1.2 billion USD).

In a statement ETC Corporate General Manager Abdurahim Ahmed made yesterday, October 18, 2007, said the corporation would execute various projects to expand mobile and fixed line telephone services, broadband, internet, broadband multimedia and rural telephone services in the country.

"We have already launched activities targeted at making all rural areas beneficiaries of wireless telephone service," he said. "During the year, all rural towns of the country would get access to telephone service."

During the one year implementation period of this project, ETC will undertake the installation of 1.2 million regular telephone lines and 50, 000 telephone subscribers would get additional telephone services.

In Addition, some 5,000 public phones would be installed across the nation, while the corporation also plans to provide internet services to 50,000 new subscribers.

ETC has also plans to install three million mobile phone service lines and offer additional services to 100,000 mobile telephone subscribers.

Expansion of the School-Net project service channels to 12, as well as increasing the number of Wereda Net service stations are some of the activities scheduled to be executed by the corporation. According to Abdurahim, from the School-Net project 45 schools would benefit.

Furthermore, to expand roaming service coverage in more than 100 countries, ETC will sign agreements with foreign companies in less than one year.

He further noted that the corporation is currently making utmost efforts in a bid to raise customer satisfaction to 75 percent from its current 50 percent, through expanding telecom infrastructure as well as meeting quality standards in the sector.