The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) said that it had granted permission to companies that run internet-dependant operations to acquire and use VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal).

Some months earlier, the ministry had issued a directive allowing companies which are dependent on the internet and those working in remote areas of the country where there is no access to the internet to use VSATs, Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD), minister of MICT, said.

The Ministry brought up the VSAT in the wake of complaints from companies whose operations had been affected by frequent disruption to internet connection and downtimes, sources said on condition of anonymity.

The VSAT system mainly uses satellites and is slower than the broadband service which uses fibre optics, the latest technology in the telecom sector.

Regardless, some companies including the Ethiopian Shipping Lines are looking forward to acquiring the VSAT system, Tewodros Negussie, IT manager at the shipping lines, said.

The Ethiopian Airlines was also considering acquiring the VSAT technology in case the telecom infrastructure remains unimproved, Kemeredin Bedru, the airline's vice IT president, said.

Kemeredin said that he was going to go for the VSAT even though it was expensive and less efficient than the broadband. However, he said that he changed his mind hoping that Ethio Telecom might in the near future improve the telecom infrastructure.

Companies which acquire VSATs are obliged to use the technology to run their own operation, and are not allowed togive service to third parties employing the VSATs, according to the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.

Source: The Reporter