This archive report was first published on 3 July 2019.
On July 3, 2019, Ethiopia began restoring internet access, 10 days after it was cut following the assassination of six top government officials.
The killings occurred on June 22, when attackers shot and killed the Amhara governor and two other officials in Amhara, while the country's army chief and his close friend, a retired army general, were assassinated inside his residence by his bodyguard in Addis Ababa.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described the killings in Amhara as a coup attempt, leading to the shutdown of the internet.
However, in recent days, a few locations in the country were able to function with internet access.
According to Cherer Aklilu, secretary director of Ethio Telecom, internet has been restored in Addis Ababa and will be restored in other locations across the country 'step by step.'
Additionally, Ethio Telecom has announced that all internet packages that users bought but were not able to use during the internet cut will be reimbursed.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time Ethio Telecom has cut internet access in the country. The state-owned monopoly of telecommunications services also cut internet access two weeks ago during national school exams.
NetBlocks, an internet monitoring group, estimated that Ethiopia was losing a minimum of $4.5 million a day during the internet cut.
Some Ethiopians have expressed their dissatisfaction with the government's decision to cut internet access. Abinet Haregu, a businessman in the delivery business in Ethiopia, stated, 'The government should stop cutting the internet whenever some security or exam issues pop up. This is a tactic that was tried and failed in the past.'
It is worth noting that Ethiopia is not the only country to have recently blocked internet access. Mauritania and Sudan have also recently blocked internet access in their countries.
