<P> Ethiopia has made several attempts to increase available broadband by laying 4,000 kilometers of fiber - optic cable along the country's major highways, by making overtures to the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and by connecting Addis Ababa to existing fiber optic networks in Port Sudan and Djibouti . These ventures have had mixed success . The domestic network is not yet operational, though the government has promised to lay 10,000 more kilometers of cable by 2010 . Once the cable has been laid, it is said Ethiopia will consider opening the network to a second, private operator . EASSy has been delayed multiple times by disagreements among the member countries (though at the time of writing it was scheduled to be completed by June 2010), and the line to Djibouti was sabotaged and looted, allegedly by ONLF and OLF rebels, shortly after its completion in 2006 . </P> <P> Currently satellite Internet is available to some large corporations, but individuals are not permitted to have private satellite connections . The ETC also bans the use of VoIP in Internet cafés and by the general population, though its web site lists VoIP as part of the company's future broadband strategy . </P> <P> In 2014, the number of Internet users in Ethiopia had increased to 1,836,035, or approximately 1.9% of the population . In 2015, it had risen to 3.7 million, or 3.7% . </P> <P> The Ethio Telecom and the Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency (ETA) have exclusive control of Internet access throughout the country . The ETA is not an independent regulatory body, and its staff and telecommunications policies are controlled by the national government . It grants the Ethio Telecom a monopoly license as Ethiopia's sole ISP and seller of domain names under the country code top - level domain, ". et". Internet cafés and other resellers of Internet services must be licensed by the ETA and must purchase their access through the ETC . Individual purchasers must also apply for Internet connections through the Ethio Telecom . In 2012, Ethiopia passed a law that prohibits anyone to "bypasses the telecom infrastructure established by the telecom service provider", which prevents any alternative internet service provider to be created . </P>

How many internet users are there in ethiopia