The world is shrinking as each day passes. With the momentum of information communication technology (ICT) galloping at the fastest of paces, attaining the concept of living in “the global village” is just around the corner. However, when looking at a monopoly such as the one that exists here, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), the situation seems to show a different picture.

ETC’s inefficiency is escalating. Walking into an Internet café to download a file from the Internet or even check one’s email is actually becoming quiet difficult.

It is high time to seriously consider the introduction of foreign competitors into the Ethiopian telecommunications market.

Nonetheless, this would require a constitutional amendment to dissolve the current state owned utility company’s monopoly on the market.

Telecommunications liberalisation has become a notoriously difficult political issue for the Revolutionary Democrats.

The predicament has not bothered the opposition bloc enough to do something about it, and the incumbent has waved the idea of introducing a compromise bill on the floor of the assembly.

But why?  If passed, this bill will open the telecommunications market to foreign competitors yet maintain the national utility company as a state owned enterprise.

And better yet, if competition is introduced into Ethiopia’s telecommunications market, customers will enjoy lower prices, higher quality services, a wider array of service choices, and state-of-the-art technology.

A more efficient telecommunications sector will improve the efficiency of numerous business endeavours, thereby boosting the whole country’s economy. Improved telecommunications infrastructure will also help attract increased levels of foreign direct investment (FDI).

What more would the incumbent and the policymakers want than injecting extra cash into the economy?

In a nutshell, competition is the key to growth.

There is a saying that goes, “In the country of the blind, a man with one eye is the king.” This has been the situation in the Ethiopian telecommunications industry.

Previously, many lauded the corporation for their foresight. Ironically, customers have not seen any of this “foresight” bearing fruit.

The ETC, in its drive to expand its services by laying cables for broadband, was advised to have a backup plan as a contingency. Has the advice been accepted by the corporation? The current inefficiency tells the answer.

This is mainly because we see more of the same from the ETC: lethargy. As steady as this mentality has been, it has landed the corporation in a gully from which it is loath to climb out.

As a state run and state supported entity, the ETC lacks a commercial incentive to provide the best possible services at the lowest possible cost. It also lacks the financial ability to invest in the acquisition or development of new infrastructure. It is subject to fiscal restraints that slow the introduction of new technology, which is particularly problematic since the cost of maintaining a state-of-the-art telecommunications network is skyrocketing.

Governments taking gratification in owning monopolies is a contagious ailment worldwide. Promises of an enhanced business outlook have resulted only in, at best, monotonous and apathetic services.

The service they give now is not the kind of service that the “old ETC” would have even entertained giving a little while back.

Mobile phone services are an ignominy. The presently provided facilities, if offered anywhere else, would have resulted in the company being forced to fold due to a lack of customers, who would have switched over to the competition.

Therein lies the chafe, there is no competition.

Mobile technology was said to have been a stroke of luck to the developing world. Those same countries did not have to spend the capital outlay in burying heavy, expensive copper cables.

These landlines were an economic drain on many economies in the third world. Many were even then in the throes of laying landline cables in trenches many miles long, circumnavigating the whole country in many cases.

All this came to a standstill when the mobile was born. In one giant leap, the third world moved ahead. It would seem that the technological shock has not yet worn off at the ETC.

Oh! How the mighty have fallen. Once a leader in telecommunications in Africa whose capability was much exploited by the United Nations continent wide, Ethiopia and the ETC have now become dependant on other nations.

The ETC has allowed Ethiopia to become a net importer of ideas and services from neighbouring countries, for instance, Sudan and Djibouti for cabling lying. As Ethiopian companies have become indebted to the ETC, so the ETC is at the mercy of those that have allowed fibre optic cables to traverse their territory.

Liberal economists have been frequently suggesting that policymakers open the gates up for private operators.

Had the incumbent together with policymakers pledged to follow the recommendations, there would be a lot of companies here that could handle the kind of services needed in a proficient manner. Meanwhile, the country’s scanty foreign currency reserve diminishes further with lots of spending for such services that could have, otherwise, been provided locally.

It seems as if the ETC is slacking and shrugging off the fact that the customer does not have another place to go.

It only takes a twist and turn from the telecom sector’s regulatory agency to allow companies with enormous and sustainable financial resources (compared to the ETC’s loan dependent resources) to give the nation a chance to have better telecom services to depend on.

One of the beneficiaries would obviously be the ETC itself as it would get an industry competition kick-start to get it out of the detrimental and undeserving comfort zone that it is stuck in.

The key is for it to set itself free and allow the public to have more services and competitive ones at that. Indeed, while the sector catches up with the rest of the world as a result of the pressure from other telecom companies, all stakeholders will achieve a full understanding of the rationale for liberalisation.

Failure to liberalise costs the nation tremendously.

The ETC has been a monopoly from its commencement and does not understand the concept that “the customer is king,” thanks to the incumbent and the opposition who do not seem to show a shred of concern.

Still, the credit goes to the customers for their paramount patience in accepting the situation as if it was normal. Now, it is time for the Revolutionary Democrats to pick up the remote control and switch the channel to a new one, one with same kind of competition.