Developing communications infrastructure is basic to any country’s economic progress and development. It, however, has particular importance for underdeveloped countries that are striving to attract investment.
The government of Eritrea recognized the importance of fast communication in advancing national economy. As such, emphasis has been given to repair the damaged and to build new infrastructures. During the post independence years roads were built in almost every corner of the country, telephone coverage – both fixed and mobile, has greatly improved and postal services are made available in almost all rural areas.
Given the many challenges faced by the country in the last 10 years, one can comment that encouraging achievements are made. Making comparison between pre and post-independence period helps to have a clear picture of the outcomes of our development efforts.
There were only 36 roads connecting with areas during colonial periods whereas today there are as many as 182 roads. Besides, 630 km asphalted roads have been renovated and other 527 km new asphalted, and 1300 km non-asphalted roads have been built and paved in the last 17 years.
The government has also exerted similar efforts in other communication areas. In the telecommunication sector there are 39,000 fixed telephone lines and more than 90,000 mobile phones. Parallel to these, there is an increasing expansion of Internet services. Currently, there are 80 Internet cafés throughout the country though most of them are situated in Asmara. The Internet service that started some years ago with 2 megabytes now has a capacity of 12 megabytes and yet the Ministry of Transport and Communications is working to increase the capacity to 20 megabytes. Similarly, in the area of postal services the ministry has done well by opening some 70 post offices all over the country.
Although the achievements in different areas of communication are remarkable, we still have a lot to do. Improving the quality of services and expanding it to areas that lack them can be mentioned as the main ones.
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