Getting Connected in Ethiopia

One of the first things anyone does upon establishing themselves in a new country is connect to local communications systems. This blog post will outline how as a foreigner I’ve hooked into the phone and internet system here in Addis Ababa and what’s changed since my previous visit last summer. I’ve had a relatively easy time getting connected thanks to input from other expats who have been here for some time. Without their help, it would have taken much more time and money to figure out how things work here. Hopefully this post will be of use to other. Do note that the phone and internet systems have changed notably since a year ago when I first visited. I can only promise that this information is accurate now. Also, since this information is based on my experience, it is possible that there are alternate ways of getting things done. This is just what worked for me.

Welcome To Choose

All telecommunications service is provided by the state-run Ethiopian Telecommunications Company (ETC), so clearly this is the option you are welcome to choose. Below is a photo of the text message I received upon setting up my cell phone service.

Cell phone service

When I was here last summer, there was a run on SIM cards as there were not enough phone numbers available to meet the demand. Since then, new numbers were introduced to the system. I had no problem getting a SIM card this time, paying about 160 birr ($13) for it in a shop at the Hilton Hotel.

Cell numbers starting in 0911 are original numbers. Those starting with 0912, 0913, etc., are new numbers.  I got the cheapest cell phone offered at a small shop near Meskel Square for 450 birr ($37). Lots of shops offer SIM cards and cell phones, so you should have no problem finding either.

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Additional note – Feb 18, 2010: DO NOT BUY YOUR SIM CARD FROM THE HILTON HOTEL!  This turned out to be a mistake on my part.  The Hilton is notorious for illegally registering new SIM numbers under the name of an Ethiopian, not the foreign purchaser.  This is convenient for people making short visits to the country as they do not need to deal with the paperwork of registering the number themselves.  My cell phone was recently stolen.  Normally in this case, ETC will deactivate the stolen SIM and give you a new one with the old number for a nominal fee.  Since the number was not registered under my name, I could not recover it.  Go to an ETC office to get a SIM card.  Bring a copy of your passport, two ID photos, and a local address and phone number.  I also brought along an Ethiopian friend to help (Thanks, Tigist!).  Some people are under the impression that you need an Ethiopian residence card to register a new SIM card.  As of writing this, that is not the case.

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Sim cards come with a few birr of service and credit can be added with green or blue prepaid phone cards available at almost every corner store. Use blue cards to add credit to SIM cards with 0911 numbers and green cards to add credit to 0912 and up numbers.  They come in denominations of 25, 50, and 100 birr.  In about a month’s time, I’ve used 150 birr of service making about 2-3 local calls a day that rarely last over 10 minutes each.

The prepaid card will have instructions on how to add credit by calling ETC at 909. Even if you don’t understand the recorded Amharic prompts, following the instructions printed on the card in English will do the trick. You should receive a text message confirming that credit has been added to your account.

Cell phone annoyances

As far as I understand, adding the new numbers pushed the telecommunications system over capacity. About 1/3 of the time I try to place a call, it won’t go through and an automated message plays offering one of various reasons why.

Often times, people I’m working with cannot afford to charge their SIM cards with credit, so they call and immediately hang up so that I call them back. They will also borrow other people’s phones to make calls from rather than using the credit on their own SIM card. I don’t have voice mail service, and no one I know does. I’m not sure if it’s even offered. While in the U.S. I might ignore calls from unknown numbers to my phone and just listen to the message later, the combination of practices and services here mandate that I pick up all calls.

Internet

I had a lot of help from the F9 Photo Blog on getting my Apple laptop connected to the internet. Please refer to this post on the EVDO internet connection for additional specifications and instruction on this service.  Two connections are available through USB modems: CDMA 1X and EVDO.  Most vendors I talked to were completely misinformed about the USB modems they are selling and the internet connections available through them. Many ETC employees were misinformed as well. In addition, few can speak to compatibility with Apple computers, which are not very commonly used here.

I bought a Huawei USB modem for just over 2,200 birr ($183) at Getu Center on Bole Rd.  With the help of an Ethiopian friend, I registered the device at the ETC office next to Edna Mall for limited EVDO internet service at 480 birr/month ($40) for up to 2GB of bandwidth usage.

The EVDO connection is very new in Ethiopia (introduced in the past several months) and comes in limited and unlimited bandwidth options. The unlimited bandwidth option is exorbitantly expensive, so unless you’re opening an internet cafe or something, go with the limited service.  The maximum connection speed is 2.4 MB/second, though rarely is my connection actually over 250 KB/second. I paid for the first month at the ETC office, but subsequent months are paid for with prepaid cards much like the ones used to add credit to my cell phone service. The light blue cards for internet credit are available at some stationary shops and corner stores that advertise CDMA/Internet Cards. I got mine at the stationary store one floor below the ETC office near Edna Mall.  At the beginning of each month, I buy 5 100birr cards and charge my account.

If you don’t charge your account by the 8th of the month, ETC closes the account. I find the connection does drop out occasionally, especially when I am doing things that demand a lot of bandwidth, like watching videos. Usually, reconnecting after the connection was dropped does the trick.

The other option for internet service with a USB modem is the CDMA 1X connection, which works through a SIM card with credit added through the same prepaid cards as the cell phone service. It is significantly slower than the EVDO connection and charges by time used, not bandwidth. On a friend’s 1X connection in my first few weeks here, I rarely saw connection speeds over 25 KB/second. If I stuck with the 1X connection, I would have paid comparably to what I pay for the EVDO connection over the course of a month but would accomplish much less in the time spent online because of the slow connection speed.  If you are in Ethiopia for any significant period of time, a 1X connection is a waste of time and money.  It’s worth the added haste of getting the proper USB modem and registering at the ETC office for the faster connection with EVDO.