By Aaron Maasho

Ethiopia signed an $800 million deal with China's ZTE on Sunday to expand mobile phone infrastructure and introduce a high-speed 4G broadband network in the capital Addis Ababa and a 3G service throughout the rest of the country.

The agreement with ZTE, China's second-largest telecom equipment maker, is half of a $1.6 billion project split with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's second-largest telecom equipment maker. Huawei signed the agreement last month.

Both firms will provide low interest loans to Ethiopia through an arrangement known as vendor financing, Ethiopian officials and both firms said.

Africa's rapidly expanding telecoms industry has come to symbolise its economic growth, with subscribers across the continent totaling almost 650 million last year, up from just 25 million in 2001, according to the World Bank.

China has extended its economic influence on the continent in recent years, winning road construction tenders in Kenya, signing deals for construction of energy projects in Uganda as well as running mining projects in various countries.

Andualem Admassie, acting chief executive officer of state-run Ethio Telecom, said the agreement would enable the Horn of Africa country to double subscribers to more than 50 million.

"The expansion is vital to attain Ethio Telecom's objective of increasing telecom service access and coverage across the nation, as well as to upgrade existing network to new technology," he said in a speech.

Ethio Telecom is the only mobile operator in the country of more than 80 million people, one of the last remaining countries on the continent to maintain a state monopoly in telecom.

Although lacking much of a telecoms industry, the government last year gave approval for private companies to provide value-added services - all services other than standard voice calls.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology says it has received applications from more than 200 firms to provide such services.

South Africa's MTN Group, Africa's largest mobile phone company, has already been granted a licence.

The government has ruled out liberalising its telecom sector saying the six billion birr ($321 million) it generates each year is being spent on railway projects. Ethiopia plans to build 5,000 kilometres of railway lines by 2020.

中兴通讯与埃塞俄比亚签订8亿美元通讯基础设施扩建协议

埃塞俄比亚周日与中国中兴通讯股份有限公司 签署价值8亿美元的协议，由后者在该国扩建移动通讯基础设施，在首都亚的斯亚贝巴建设一个高速4G宽带网络，并在全国其他地区普及3G服务。中兴通讯是中国第二大电信设备生产商。

除此之外，埃塞俄比亚在上个月还与全球第二大电信设备厂商华为签署了8亿美元的协议。

埃塞俄比亚官员和两家企业表示，这两家企业将通过供应商融资协议，向该国提供低息贷款。

非洲快速扩张的电信行业已成为经济增长的象征。根据世界银行的数据，非洲去年的电信用户总数接近6.5亿，2001年时仅为2,500万。

埃塞俄比亚国营电信公司Ethio Telecom代理执行长Andualem Admassie称，该协议将令该国的电信用户数量倍增至逾5,000万。

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