The 1.5 billion US dollar telecom network installed by ZTE (Chinese telecom) is being audited by an anonymous international firm. The ground breaking network audit will determine how well the new network meets international standards claim sources.

The firm, which was contracted some months ago, will complete its test in the next two or three months say sources. The deal was not advertised for managerial reasons according to the sources.

The firm is revealing its audit findings on a phase by phase basis to the Next Generation Network (NGN) team set up at Ethio Telelcom.

Each component of the network is undergoing testing before being integrated to the existing telecom infrastructure according to Deretsion Gebremichael, Information and Communications Technology Minister.

The quality of the network is not up for compromise said Deretsion in response to industry observers critical of the poor performance of the current telecom network installed by Ethio Telecom.

Mobile network coverage will increase to 23 million and the quality of broadband and other telecom services will be enhanced once the new network is fully integrated to the current telecom infrastructure explained Deretsion.

Ethio Telcom is ready to launch a further expansion project even as it awaits the completion of the network audit being carried out.

It is expected that the new expansion venture will raise Ethiopia’s mobile phone coverage to 50 million subscribers and enhance the capacity of internet servers.

Significant international telecom service providers like Huawei have already submitted expressions of interest to take on the expansion project.

Source: Reporter