Ministry to Replace WoredaNet with New ICT Infrastructure

Addis Ababa  January 23/2019 Aiming at increasing internet gateway capacity, Ministry of Innovative and Technology set to replace the old WoredaNet with the latest version of National Back Bone ICT infrastructure.

This was disclosed during a workshop organized on Tuesday by the Ministry to discuss on the government initiative to enhance national core network and competing infrastructure among stakeholders.

Opening the discussion, Innovation and Technology Minister, Getahun Mekuria said that in terms of speed, connectivity and capacity of the internet in the country the ICT structure is low as compared with the number of population in the country.

National Back Bone (NBB) aims to replace the old WoredaNet, which is current government network used to connect the 9 regions, 2 city administrations, 950 Woredas and other sites, through enhancing internet gateway capacity, he added.

He pointed out that the Ministry intends to increase internet getaway capacity and replacing the existing WoredaNet by National Back Bone (NBB) to give reliable and cost effective internet service to the public.

The current estimated internet gateway capacity of the country is 50 GB per second. Hence, it is planned to increase internet gate way capacity from 50 GB per second to at least 2000-10000 GB per second after two years, he stated.

 
The initiative also aims to enhance the capacity of National Data Center (NDC) of the country even if the center is found in good performance, he indicated.

Website Manager of the Ministry, Dawit Birhanu said the need for high capacity National Back Bone (NBB) in the country is because it is fundamental engine for a robust national economy. 

 
NBB is the foundation for all ICT projects and help to deliver highly specialized skill services such as health and education, he added.

Declining cost of routers, architectural simplifications as well as Ethiopia's  significant long haul fiber development with a good coverage having over 22,000 KM total long haul fiber are some of the opportunities to accomplish the NBB  project, he indicated.

The National Data Center (NDC) hub also helps to activate multiple services for all government institutes and provides better security, he noted.