Your blackberry and mobile data in Addis Ababa
There are at least three ways to get mobile data in Ethiopia. They all require using an ETC sim-card (as far as I know, there are no data roaming agreements yet.)
EVDO
You can now buy an EVDO USB modem for about ETB 3000 (a bit less than US$300). There are two tarrifs – you can pay ETB 475 per month for up to 2GB download a month, or something astronomical for unlimited bandwidth.
The EVDO modem I have got does not take a SIM card – it has to be registered with ETC.
EVDO is much faster than the wired broadband internet available in Addis.
I haven’t worked out what happens when you reach your bandwidth cap – if you know, please tell us in the comments.
Mobile email using 3G
I am using a Nokia E71 for mobile email around Addis Ababa. My set up is:
- an unlocked Nokia E71
- a pay as you go 3G sim card from ETC (costs about ETB 300)
- RoadSync software to connect to my office Exchange Server
This means I am getting true “push” email – that is, new mail is pushed to my phone as they arrive. You can get the sim cards from ETC offices (eg in Edna Mall) or from a number of mobile phone shops around town (eg on Bole Road next to the New York Supermarket).
The 3G sim card uses the same scratch cards for credit top up as my mobile phone. The 3G data apparently costs ETB 0.20c per 1KB. I reckon I top up about ETB 100 Birr every two weeks.
Using Psiloc Connect reduces the data charge. It means that Roadsync accesses the data via wifi when there is a wifi signal available (we have wifi at home) and switches automatically to 3G when the wifi is out of range.
The setup for the 3G SIM card is:
- you need to dial 909 to register the SIM card
- the APN is “etc.com”
CDMA mobile data for laptops
Cheaper than EVDO with no monthly minimum fee, but much slower, is CDMA.
I have:
- a Huawei EC 325 CDMA data modem (costs about ETB 2300)
- a CDMA pay as you go SIM Card from ETC (costs about ETB 200)
- my normal laptop with a USB port.
The connection is not fast broadband; but the speed isn’t bad. It is about 5 times quicker than dialup. It is certainly good enough for checking email and surfing the web. But it isn’t as fast as EVDO.
To top up, you put the little earpiece into the modem to hear the call, then dial 903. Then choose 2, 1, 1, top up card number + #
The modem connection settings are:
Phone number: #777
Username: etc
password: etc
Moble data outside Addis Ababa
I have used my 3G phone and CDMA modems in Shashemane and in Awassa and they both worked well. A friend of mine reports that they work in Sodo too. I haven’t tried EVDO outside Addis Ababa yet.
There is no mobile data yet in Lalibela.
Please let me know in the comments if you find mobile data working anywhere else outside Addis.
Where to get the equipment or more advice
If you want detailed advice, speak to Enetie Bayabil, +251 (0)911 60 71 98. His shop is on Bole Road in the Getu Building, opposite the New York Supermarket (the place with the Statue of Liberty sign outside).
17 comments on “Your blackberry and mobile data in Addis Ababa”
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Hi there. I may relocate in Addis in the next months. I heard everything and its opposite when it comes to Internet access in Ethiopia. I currently connect on a GPRS in South Africa and the service is quite good though just a bit faster than dialup. Not costly at all. I will need to have more or less the same kind of access to update my website for expl.
You mention you have a Wifi connection at home. Is it easy to get a subscription ? Which one do you have ? thx a lot. R.
@Rami – wifi is very hard to get, and eye-wateringly expensive. I would stick to mobile data unless you are staying a long time.
Owen
Thx for your prompt answer. I may stay in AA for three years. What I would need is a reliable dial-up line at home, or (ideally a broadband connection home (512k or half of that will do). Do you have any idea of the costs ? I heard skype was forbidden. Are other VoIP applications (msn…) are possible to use ? If I am confirmed for AA I will definitely contact you for those issues and other ones, if it is OK with you. Best regards. R.
Great information, thanks for the post. My question is, can I purchase an unlocked Blackberry from the US and use it in Ethiopia? Will I get Blackberry push email if I get the ETC data plan? Also, what other phones can I buy besides the Nokia E71 that will allow for push email? Thanks
Joseph – I’m afraid I don’t know. I’ve never seen anyone successfully use a blackberry (as opposed to S60 or Windows Mobile based machine) here. My guess (and it is only a guess) is that if it works on a vanilla 3G internet connection, it should work here too. But when I put my ETC 3G SIM card into my friend’s US T-mobile blackberry recently, the blackberry said the SIM card was not recognised. I am not sure if the US blackberry was not 3G/GSM, or was locked to T-mobile, or what.
Fair enough, probably means it won’t work. Will any unlocked GSM smartphone work for push email?
Anyone know is IPhones work in AA?
Iphones work just fine with the ETC 3g sim card, but you will definitely have to unlock your iphone. This is fairly easy to do, just google iphone dev team, they made program called yellowsnow. But the CDMA option that Owen mentioned is definitely the cheaper way to go for internet connection as compared to the 3g, but still nice to have the 3g option.
I’ve got an unlocked Windows Mobile device that I plan to use with a ETC sim.
Do you know the network settings so that i can configure the mobile internet on the device before arriving?
I’m looking for AccessPoint address, username / password (if required).
Thanks
Owen replies: the settings are all in the blog post above.
Can I buy a USB data modem for my laptop here in the U.S. (say at BestBuy) and put an ETC SIM card in it in Ethiopia? What kind of device do I need to make sure to have? Is it a matter of making sure it’s “unlocked” as was mentioned above with mobile devices?
Owen replies: As far as I know you can use a generic CDMA modem with an ETC sim card. Also, my unlocked WDCMA (3G) phone is working fine with an ETC 3G sim card. The new EVDO modems don’t appear to have SIM cards, and I don’t know whether ETC would be able to register an imported one on their network.
Does anyone know the GSM/3G frequency used by ETN? I suspect a US iPhone won’t work with 3G, as AT&T uses non-standard frequencies.
Owen replies: I don’t know about frequencies, but a friend visiting from the US bought a 3G SIM card from ETC and it worked fine for both voice and data.
Can we use cdma cards less than 500birr for evdo service in ethiopia or is it have to be only 500birr cdma cards?
Owen replies: the EVDO modems all seem to have built-in SIM cards, not swappable SIMs. They have to be registered with ETC.
I will be travelling to AA next month and I’m hoping to journal back to my school in Canada. I would like to send pictures and video but am not sure
if this is a possibility due to the internet restrictions and capabilities. Does anyone have any suggestions what I should do. I’ll be there for 2 weeks and I will have a laptop. Do I go to an internet cafe?
The last time I checked this site was on July 4,2009 (http://www.owen.org/blog/2065). Internet connection is better now when compared to last year. EVDO is the only connection that’s reliable when compared to the others, and Dial up connection is almost impossible for tourists and I don’t recommend it to anyone. The CDMA connection isn’t that much reliable and is expensive for its poor performance. I recommend EVDO for anyone who is interested in a somewhat “fast” internet connection, videos and downloads will eat up the bandwidth limit and you may end up paying for additional fees(0.4 birr per megabite) if you pass the 2GB bandwidth limit. The 3G simcard for the phone is quite expensive too, so I advice anyone using it not to use your phone to browse websites that don’t have simplified pages for mobile phone browsing. @thomas, Internet Cafe’s have low speed connection so that won’t be possible, and since you will be staying for 2 weeks, I don’t know if subscribing for the EVDO plan is a good idea either(because you should buy the USB modem before you can use the EVDO service and that costs about 250 dollars alone).
i bought an EV-DO USB device a few months ago but i think i may have the wrong thing. a) it takes a sim card, which you said evdo devices do not have. b) i have to recharge it with the 903# like you were describing with the CDMA. what happened? everyone else who bought the same things seems to have much faster speeds. we bought it in the shop on the bottom floor of edna mall, and it came in an ev-do box with all the proper documents. did we really buy a CDMA? or am i using the evdo as a cdma and not know it. how do i connect to the evdo? how do i know and how do i get the ev-do with the subscription like you said?
Owen replies:
Andy: My guess is that you have bought a device that can do both EVDO and CDMA. (Lots of the ZTE devices can do both.) You need to register the EVDO part of the device with ETC (involves paying a modest fee to ETC) and then make sure you use the device as EVDO not CDMA – this may involve making sure you use the right software.
We may be moving to AA if all goes well. I work from home and need a solid internet line. Couple quick questions about the EVDO. How often does it drop? Is the speed the same as a DSL? What would the approx cost be? Is it possible to work out of one of the hotels for an extended period of time?
I appreciate any input or further information
Owen replies: The EVDO is dropping more and more, to the point where it is becoming frustrating. The speed is a bit quicker than the 512kbs ETC DSL line. It costs ETB 475 birr per month. I don’t think you could work out of the hotels for an extended period, but you certainly could for a while.
Does it drop a few times a week? Are there any other alternatives for the home user that provides the same speed?
Owen replies: more like a few times per hour. You can get DSL at home but it is expensive.