“Consumer Protection in Ethiopia's Telecom Sector: New Beginnings and Prospects”
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2021-09
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
A few sectors have been selected for special treatment because of their unique importance to
society. The telecom industry is one such identified sector in which consumers have legal
protection. Telecom consumers' legal protection has progressed through several stages. This
thesis examines the legal protection of consumers in Ethiopia's telecommunication sector.
Ethiopia had no tailored consumer protection laws for telecom consumers, and safeguards were
only made with generic consumer laws. Special telecom consumer protection has been enacted
as a result of the recent (and ongoing) telecom policy reform. In line with international trends,
Ethiopia's consumer laws in the telecom sector consider the particular characteristics of telecom
consumers. The laws are designed to counter the power gap in bargaining power between
consumers and telecom operators, uphold social injustice, address knowledge asymmetry and
transaction costs. The quality of legal and institutional framework of consumer protection
determines the effectiveness of consumer protection in the sector. The thesis examines Ethiopia's
consumer protection framework based on comparative studies. It argues that current Ethiopian
law exhibits several normative gaps that undermine consumer rights. The country fails to
legislate laws to protect vulnerable consumer rights, a structurally independent regulator,
consumer civil association representation in the regulator, net neutrality rules on Voice over
Internet Protocol (VOIP) services, and data breach notification standards. There are no clear
rules and an independent investigative team made up of system managers in the Ethiopian
Communications Authority (ECA) to determine operator’s violation of consumer privacy. The
Ethiopian Communications Service Proclamation (EthCSP) specifies access rights to Service
Number Portability (SNP), but not how the procedures shall be carried out. Surveillance of
Internet and phone correspondence is permitted under a number of broad statutes with a low
burden of proof that has only rudimentary protection for the right to privacy. In addition, the
modest survey of the practice shows there was an awareness gap among consumers about their
own rights in the industry. The operator fails to have disclosure terms on privacy and data
protection on the subscriber’s service agreement. And the contract is an adhesive in nature that
does not include the rights of consumers in a clear manner which needs amendment. The ECA is
yet to educate consumers and inform their rights.
Description
Keywords
Consumer Protection, Telecom Consumer, Telecommunications Service, EthCSP, ECA