Ethiopia, Indian telecoms firm signs agreement on tele-education

Jan 16, 2006 (DUBAI) — Telecommunications Consultants (India) Limited (TCIL) has signed a MoU with the Ethiopian Information and Communication Technology Development Agency (EICTDA) to implement a pilot project for tele-education and tele-medicine under the Pan African E-Network Project.

Debretsion G. Michael, Director General, Ethiopian Information and Communication Technology Development Agency (EICTDA) and Ratan Singh, Project Director, TCIL, had signed the contract, the Indian Embassy in Addis Ababa said in a release.

During the inaugural session of the Pan-African Parliament held at Johannesburg in September 2004, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, proposed setting up a Pan-African e-Network, to be entirely funded by India.

The network would connect all 53 countries of the African Union to provide effective communication and connectivity among these countries, it said.

The proposal is to link the satellite hub Earth Station of Pan African e-network with India by leasing bandwidth in the existing submarine cable link to provide Tele-Education Content and Tele-Medicine consultation.

The total project cost is US$63.7 million, which will be entirely funded by the Government of India.

At the request of EU and African countries, India has agreed to monitor the project for five years, when it will be handed over to them.

Ethiopia will be the first beneficiary of the Pan-African e-Network Project, as it is the headquarters of the African Union with the necessary infrastructure, and is keen for its early implementation.

It has been agreed to set up the Pilot Project for Tele-medicine and Tele-education in Ethiopia at a cost of $UD2.1 million, to be fully met by the Government of India.

(PTI/ST)