Ethiopia Issues RFQ for New Telecom License

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia has issued a request for qualifications or RFQ from private operators seeking to participate in the bidding process for the second new full-service telecommunications license or License B.

This process is a continuation of the Government’s reform agenda to fully liberalize the telecom market, says the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) today.

The process was launched two years after the government granted the first telecoms license to the Global Partnership for Ethiopia (GPE) to break the monopoly of Ethio Telecom in that sector.

The GPE is now operating under the name of Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia.

The ongoing issuance process for License B was resumed in Nov 2022 with an invitation for public consultation with sector actors to gather their feedback in the process.

The ECA says, “it has given due consideration to the outcome of the public consultations” and took measures to “enhance the attractiveness of the opportunity, while maintaining a transparent level-playing field.”

Recently, several major telecom firms including UAE’S Etisalat, France’s Orange, and Netherlands’ Veon have expressed their interest to enter the Ethiopian market.

Interested telecom operators have until Sept 15 to submit their qualifications per the instructions specified in the RFQ document, the ECA says.

Ethiopia plans to issue the second New telecommunications License to the private sector in 2023.