Written by Mina Yirga - Horizon Ethiopia Staff Writer
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Do you remember when receiving a phone call would incite cries of ‘earthquake’? Yes, hardware has come a long way since the massive Erickson GA 628, whose vibration mode could shake tables, was the only option. There was a time when the government felt it even needed to monopolize the handset trade under its label “Ethiomobile”; and so customers were forced to buy this beast of a phone at exorbitant prices.
But soon ETC’s network and handset supply chain became overwhelmed by the mobile revolution. While SIM card rationing still takes place even today, at least the choice of apparatuses has improved. Despite the high tax and fragmented distribution market, the big five mobile vendors - Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and Nokia, which has a 40% market share – are still bringing innovations here.
Though the talk amongst tech geeks is about Apple’s iPhones and other 3G compatible devices there is still much to be desired in terms of options and prices. Expect to pay at least over ETB 6,000 for the apparatus and don’t get your hopes up for any well-functioning network to use it on.
But there is certainly no shortage of accessories on the market. From bluetooth to GPS even the smallest shops will surprise the shopper. They are also quite adept at unlocking phones from abroad to allow them compatibility with the local network.
But the biggest breakthrough for the Ethiopian market was no doubt the ‘Ethiopic’ Nokia handsets with Ge’ez characters and the unique Ethiopian calendar. Texting in Amharic and changing ring settings has brought many confused mobile users into proficiency, not to mention allowed them to tone down the call alert to the benefit of others.
