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Telecommunications in Eritrea has a history of more than 50 years. But it was at its low stage especially at the Ethiopian colonial period. At that time, there was a very poor telecommunications system with around 13,000 telephone lines being distributed over the whole country: 10 thousand lines in Asmara and its surroundings, one thousand in Massawa, and 1,800 lines in Assab. Towns like Mendefera, Adi-quala, Dekemhare and Adi-keih had 100 lines each. The telephone lines in those towns could provide communication only to Asmara.
As direct overseas communication could not be carried out from these towns, anybody who wanted to make an international call would need to be patched through the satellite radio in Asmara. And there were only 15 incoming and 15 outgoing lines for international calls. These created congestion in international calls. At times people had to wait for days to place an international call.
After independence, the government of Eritrea gave particular attention to the communications system. The number of the old lines was more than tripled. Many towns like Akordat, Teseney, and Barentu that had no telephone line at all, received new lines while others had their number lines increased. New microwave link was installed that enabled communication between Asmara and other cities. A local satellite was also installed that enabled enhanced local communication and another Satellite system was installed that enabled overseas communication directly from the other cities.
The Eritrean Telecommunication Corporation, EriTel, introduced Internet services in 2000 with a very narrow bandwidth of 2 megabytes. In 2003, it was enhanced to 12 megabytes. And it is expected to reach 20 megabytes in the near future, according to the Manager of EriTel, Mr. Tesfasilassie Berhane.
The year 2004 was a corner stone in the development of telecommunications system in Eritrea. This was the year when the government of Eritrea decided for a total change in the telecommunication system of the country. New microwave links were installed along Asmara-Teseney, Asmara-Assab, Teseney-Barentu and Asmara- Afaabet. Old microwave links in Dekemhare and Mendefera were replaced by new ones. These totally changed the telecommunications infrastructure of the country and enabled very advanced communication in and outside the country. The efforts were not only these; Mr. Tesfasilassie Berhane said that the analogue telephone system was digitized for the lines whose prefixes starting with 11, 16, 15, 20 and 18 and other numbers. The telephone lines that were 40,000 in 1998 were also raised to 73,000 in 2004.
The introduction of wireless telephone service was also another enhancement in telecommunication systems. The necessary technology for the wireless telephone system was installed in most part of the country. According to Mr. Tesfasilassie Berhane, around 130,000 wireless lines are expected to be distributed this year.
The total change in telecommunications infrastructure was a major push for the start of mobile phone services in Eritrea. The microwave links along Asmara-Assab, Asmara-Tesseney, Asmara-Nakfa and others were the backbone to launch mobile phone service. Mobile phone service was first rendered in Asmara and its surroundings, Massawa, Keren and Mendefera. Gradually it started in cities like, Barentu, Nakfa, Afaabet and Tesseney. At this time, the mobile phone service covers most parts of the country. Until recently, it was only Assab among the major cities of the country that had no mobile phone service. This was the most difficult part of EriTel’s mobile phone installation efforts all over the country. The work involved erecting 16 microwave link towers along the Asmara-Massawa-Assab road.
“This was the most difficult work that I have encountered in my whole career of telecommunications. We had to pass across vast deserts to connect Assab to Asmara. New roads had to be constructed in the villages of Garsa and Gedenta just to erect the towers, and all this would not have been accomplished without the relentless efforts of the members of the Warsay-Yikealo campaign,” said Mr. Tesfasilassie.
The installation of the 16 microwave link towers from Asmara to Assab has enabled towns like Tio, Edi, Gelaalo and most of the villages along the Gedem-Assab road to gain access to mobile phone services. Some parts of the Dahlak Archipelagos have also become beneficiaries.
“Another microwave link tower will soon be erected to cover the remaining parts of the Dahlak Islands,” said Mr. Tesfasilassie.
© Copyright 2001-2007 Shaebia.org
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