ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Dec. 16 -- The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corp. (ETC), the country's only state-owned information and communication technologies provider, established in 1996, said it has begun activities to link Ethiopia and Sudan with a fiber optic telephone line, according to the Angola Press online newspaper. The line, which will replace the existing microwave system, will be installed along the Gondar-Gelabat border road, according to the article. An ETC official said it will facilitate economic relations between the two countries through efficient and quality telephone service. The system will have the capacity to handle 80,000 calls per second. Some six towns and rural areas bordering the cable installation route will also receive phone service. Farmers living near the route have been taking part in digging a cable-burying canal, and nearly 25 kms of the canal have been dug so far, the article said. The remaining work is expected to be completed during the current budget year, said ETC. For more information, visit: www.telecom.net.et