Ethio Telecom, Ethiopia's state-owned telecom services provider, announced it is aiming to increase telecom penetration in Ethiopia to 61 percent in the newly started Ethiopian fiscal year. The company plans to do so by increasing its total number of subscribers by 14 percent to 64 million, mobile voice subscribers by 13 percent to 61.37 million, data and internet users by 16.2 percent to 28.5 million, and fixed broadband subscribers by 48 percent to 554 thousand. By doing so, Ethio Telecom aims to generate 70 billion birr in revenues this year, a 24 percent increase compared to last year.
Ethio Telecom, has rolled out its plan for the newly started Ethiopian fiscal year, a first of its three-year business development strategy. The company declared it will deploy various projects to expand network and systems capacity, new technologies, and add new features so as to enhance customer experience, quality of services, service accessibility and to cater to the unserved demands of its customers.
Ethio Telecom pointed out 4G/LTE advanced network capacity expansion will be carried out in Addis Ababa and in regional towns following data traffic growth and demand. To improve network coverage and capacity, more than 3.88 Million additional mobile network capacity will be installed in Addis Ababa and the regions, they said. This will be undergirded by new operations support systems and corporate solutions projects that improve service provisioning, automation, operational efficiency. Ethio Telecom also said 5G mobile technology will be introduced as a pilot.
Ethio Telecom's three-year strategy, which covers the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2024, has been reviewed at senior and middle management levels, as well as consulted and validated by the company's board of directors. The strategy is said to have been developed to accommodate a changing reality, considering the nature of the business and the ongoing market conditions. To ensure the competitiveness and sustainable growth of the company, it has been developed by considering and reviewing relevant government policies, international best practices, and industry trends.
Ethio Telecom, still the sole telecom services provider in Ethiopia, has been in operations for 127 years. Ethiopia's telecom sector, however, is opening up with a new telecom license awarded to a group of companies, and a second telecom license to be advertised for bidding.
Source (Including Image): Ethio Telecom (Website and Twitter)
