ETC commits daylight robbery

By Meteku Assefa

I was having a draft beer with a few friends at Tana the other day when a Kenyan guy who works at the ECA joined us. The conversation inevitably moved to mobile phones and Tele. After all the usual complaints from everyone, we were just about to change the subject to moving to another bar when our new Kenyan friend asked us why no one complains about being robbed by Tele.
We all fell silent - probably some wondering at what new illegal activity Tele has now got itself into. Others started checking their wallets not fully understanding what our friend really meant and probably thinking Tele was a new code word for a pick pocket. But he then told us that no Tele was not involved in any new illegal activity but this time it was just robbing us legally and in clear daylight.
Apparently, quite a few countries in Africa only charge a few dollars to get a new mobile line/SIM card. In fact, he told us that in Kenya they charge only $2.5 US, which is equivalent to 22 Birr, for getting a new mobile line and also add quite a few free minutes to help start the customer use his mobile phone. Practically, he said they were giving away the SIM cards for free or even paying the customers to have a mobile line.
And what does our Tele charge us? Yes, all those robbed customers put you hands up - 458 Birr or $53 US. That, for those who like statistics, equals to some 21 times more or a staggering 2100% more than what our neighbors in Kenya pay for. No wonder the Kenyan Airways advertisement always has a smiling happy face on it.
Our reaction turned from shock to anger and then to disbelief in a matter of seconds. We all felt cheated and fools at the same time. Our beers suddenly got too warm and left a rather bitter after taste in our mouths. This is surely what they call daylight robbery.
I am sure if someone asked Tele they would come up with some unbelievable lie for justification. We use to enjoy the Comical Ali TV shows from Baghdad when the American tanks were rolling into town, the Information Minister was claiming against all visible evidence that it was not true. So now Tele has started its own weekly show trying to dazzle us with technology and high tech gadgets and talk. But for some reason it is not as funny as the Comical Ali show. It leaves the same nasty after taste as when our Kenyan friend told us how we were being tricked. Did the poor Iraqi’s feel the same sense of betrayal when subjected with the Sadams’ propaganda and lies for so many years? Was it the same kind of propaganda and lies that Lenin and Pravda would have been proud of during the Soviet Union era all those many years ago?
I suddenly realised that all those expensive weekly TV shows by Tele were being paid for by our own money – by the 458 Birr we all paid to get a line we should have got for free and by the calls we get charged for which we did not get connected or got disconnected half way or the connection was so bad that we can not talk to each other.
I wanted to switch off my phone in anger and stop funding this parasite called Tele and reached for my phone. But the parasite has already beaten me to it. My phone says there is no network coverage so I am really not connected to the network that I am trying to disconnect from. So I am just paying a monthly connection fee for a network I am not even connected to. This is not just daylight robbery, this is legalised robbery.