Executive Development Program (EDP) Training workshop

Main excerpts of Training Presentations

Organized by:

The Ethiopian Telecommunications Agency with the cooperation of NetTel@Africa

Sponsored by:

Information and Communication Technologies Assisted Development Project (ICTAD)

January 30 - February 3, 2006

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Although the Ethiopian Telecommunications Agency (ETA) was established in 1999, the tasks accomplished in a relatively short period of time are very encourage able. The Agency has been actively engaged in providing regulations that could be instrumental in dealing with the everchanging sector. The agency has been also working with a great sense of readiness and commitment to expand and build its institutional capacity.

As part of the long term objectives of ETA, organizing international workshops of international standards with a clear objective of sharing experiences and using the venue for galvanizing inputs that could greatly contribute to the very ideas the agency has been established is imperative.

It is in the vein of this that the Executive development Program (EDP) Training program has been organized from January 30th - February 3rd, 2006 on the premises of the College of Telecommunications and Information Technology (CTIT). The workshop brought together participants from higher learning institutions, NetTel@Africa (Network for Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange in ICT policy, regulatory and application) and operators, regulatory organs, among others to equip ETA's top and middle level management members with the information and the knowledge that could enable them to discharge their duties with a great sense of responsibility.

Accordingly, the over 45 patricians with sound professional competence and international expertise were quick to go to business to reflect on the points ETA tabled for discussion. Eshetu Alemu Director General of ETA requested the participants in his welcoming speech to share whatever ideas they may have with the Ethiopian colleagues. He also said given the present Ethiopian reality, the only way to develop the telecom sector in the country is through the initiative of the government. It is the only alternative in the absence of indigenous capital and skill.

In the course of the workshop the participants argued that the telecom sector in Ethiopia should be privatized in a bid to make the service of the sector internationally competitive and generate more revenue needed or the development of infrastructure.

The five-day workshop witnessed active engagement of participants training one another and sharing experiences that enabled success stories in their respective countries. They discussed ways to apply what they have learned at the workshop in their areas of involvement and to build stronger and more effective methods of executive development programs.

The workshop illustrated that African countries have a lot in common and such experience sharing programs can be powerful means to develop the continent?s need for the development of executives and their adoption of new ideas.

Policy law and regulation, fair trade and the transition to competition, costing methods, pricing, licensing, spectrum management, voice over IP and convergence, universal service and access, corporate governance, legal and political challenges, financial management, effective leadership skills, team building and motivation and work ethics were the issues selected for discussion.

The participants also broke out into small groups where they thoroughly discussed on the relevant topics and reported to plenary session their recommendations and conclusions.

The question and answer session was one of the most interesting discussions where important ideas have been raised and in most cases the presenters have given satisfactory responses and those directly related to the subject.

Ato Eshetu Alemu, Director General of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Agency (ETA), in his welcoming speech, expressed his pleasure, on behalf of ETA, CTIT and his own, to welcome the participants of this unique program.

Ato Eshetu stated that ETA was established in 1999 and has been developing its institutional capacity in terms of functional organization, human resource recruitment and regulatory instrument. It has also been working on basic regulatory functions such as licensing.

He further said that the Ethiopian telecom environment has not been yet liberalized. Rather, a government driven universal access is given priority. In what he described ?Downstream Liberalization?, is the future direction for the development of the Ethiopian telecom sector. The Government will mainly focus on setting up backbone infrastructure and service delivery with gradual opening of the market for potential investors.

Also Ato Eshetu outlined the power and function of ETA

o Regulating tariff on basic telecom services,

o Regulating service penetration and roll out targets,

o Monitoring quality of service targets, including customer  satisfaction, and network performance,

o Assigning and monitoring spectrum and approval of telecommunication equipment, including customer premise equipment.

ETA?s major challenges relate to problems of availability and continual exploitation of skilled human resources and poorly defined enforcement mechanisms of the regulatory actions, according to the Director General.

ETA?s interest to closely participate in the NetTel@Africa program is attributed to its need to address the problem of skilled man power through national educational institutions such as CTIT.

The objective of this program is thus to:

1. Conduct training to ETA?s top and middle level management staff and other relevant stakeholders.

2. Develop a strategy on customizing the postgraduate diploma and graduate program of regulatory education to be coordinated and/or delivered at a national level.

In conclusion Ato Eshetu attributed the success of the program organization to the positive understanding of Dr. Nega Alemayehu, dean of CTIT, and commended the coordinators and supporters of NetTel@Africa for their problem solving approach from which Ethiopia, particularly ETA and EBA, have been benefiting from. He also appreciated the Project Management Unit of the Information and Communication Technology Assisted Development Project for its financial support for the realization of ETA?s skilled manpower capacity building program.

Ato Eshetu also applauded the efforts of ETA?s staff particularly that of Ato Tilahun Kassa to make the event a reality and wished the program to be a success and a pleasant stay for those who traveled from abroad to Addis Ababa to contribute to this important workshop. click here to see the full story