Ethio Telecom (ET) and Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) signed Fibre Optics Lease Agreement on Tuesday October 3, 2011 at Sheraton Addis in the presence of executive managements of the two huge government companies.
The deal encompasses the 15 years long term lease of the optical fiber and the preventive and corrective maintenance of the OPGW fibers that will be done by EEPCo. The agreement is a win-win deal that allows two government companies to optimize their investment and share the same infrastructure to improve power and telecommunications over Ethiopia.
The agreement is concerning the rental by ET of all or part of the idle optical fiber cores to bear high capacity optical transmission systems. Each OPGW cable section contains from 12 to 48 fiber cores. Only part of these optical fiber cores will be used by EEPCo for its own purpose (transmission and monitoring of its power equipment).
The operation and maintenance fee shall remain fixed for the duration of two years starting from the date of signing of this Specific Agreement and shall be reviewed every subsequent two years.
The duration of this Specific Lease Agreement is five years starting from the actual commencement date of Ethio-Telecom's utilization of each fibre optic link.
The number of dark optic fibres leased under this Specific Agreement is 52 which found across 13 main routes whereas, the total length of all leased fibres already delivered to Ethio-Telecom is 1424 kilo meter.
The use of the OPGW fibers will improve the quality of the ET optical network by reducing the number of fiber cuts. The OPGW fibers are by nature more reliable and secure than classical terrestrial fiber cables since, naturally protected from cuts due to road works, civil works, landslides or malicious acts being laid on top of high voltage link pylons.
The optical fiber links covered by the Specific Agreement are those already being utilized by Ethio-Telecom and which are listed here below:-
| Optic fiber links | Length (km) |
| Kombolcha - Semera - Dicheto up to Djibouti (where 11 tele stations meet) | 243 |
| Kombolcha - Akista (3 stations) | 82 |
| Ghimbi - Assosa (10 stations) | 203 |
| Gondar - Metema | 160 |
| Bedele - Metu | 91 |
| Awash - Asebe Teferi | 92 |
| Mekele - Hagere Selam - Abi Adi (3 stations) | 77 |
| Addis Ababa - Kombolcha | |
| Addis Ababa - Jima - Sokoru | |
| Addis Ababa - Dire Dawa - Adigala | |
The fiber leased by ET will be fully integrated in the existing ET optical network based on buried and aerial optical fiber cable. It will be connected to ET network either through the EEPCo sub-stations or directly taped to one of the EEPCo pylon bearing the OPGW cable.
The OPGW fiber will be used for both long distance backbone transmission between major cities bearing ET DWDM system (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) and local backhaul connections carrying traffic from the smaller cities on the way of the OPGW route using SDH equipment (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy).
The project is known as 'OPGW' , defined as 'Optical Ground Wire' OPGW is a type of cable that is used in the construction of electric power transmission and distribution lines combining the functions of grounding and communications. The conductive part of the cable serves to bond adjacent towers to earth ground, and shields the high-voltage conductors from lightning strikes while the optical fibers within the cable can be used for high-speed transmission.
Ethio Telecom and Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation
October 3, 2011
