Ethio Telecom, Ethiopia’s State-run telecom Company will launch a tender in December, 2015, or January 2016, to upgrade the company’s infrastructure and expand its mobile coverage by 72 percent, according to its CEO.

Andualem Admassie, Ethio Telecom’s Chief Executive Officer told Reuters in an interview the project mainly involves upgrading of software technology.

The software upgrade may include the future addition of 5G technology, he added.

All companies are invited to bid including Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE as well as Sweden’s Ericsson, Andualem said.

"Our plan is to have a mobile subscriber base of around 103 million," Andualem noted.

The expansion project will also involve increasing fixed-line users to 10 million, he said, adding the expansion projects are expected to be completed in less than five years.

Ethio Telecom has secured 14.5 billion Birr gross profit in the 2014/15 budget year. It seeks to raise its gross profit to 38 billion Birr by the end of 2015/16, the CEO noted.

Source: Reuters