(Ecofin Agency) - Ethio Telecom, Ethiopia’s incumbent operator, is planning to buy a telecommunications satellite. The infrastructure will help it extend its network coverage in remote areas and also save on the use of equipment owned by foreigners.

Ethio Telecom estimates that each year, it spends about $12 million to rent the capacity of foreign satellites. The telecommunications satellite will also guarantee sovereignty in the telecommunications sector.

The operator has been planning to acquire the purchase of a telecommunications satellite for years now but the project was blocked when the Information Network Security Agency (INSA) announced its intention to also acquire a telecommunications satellite. At the time, the government saw it as a waste of resources if each of Ethio Telecoms and INSA acquires those satellites. It then chose to buy one.  

Finally, the INSA did not buy the satellite and Ethio Telecom, which is set on making use of this opportunity, declared: “We are working on the plan. We will work on the strategy and present it to the government for approval.”