Safaricom Ethiopia has officially switched on its mobile telecommunications network and services in Addis Ababa.
The telco’s 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services are now available in 11 cities across the country including the capital and the country’s second largest city, Dire Dawa. The company plans to launch its services in a total of 25 cities by April 2023 in a bid to meet the 25% population coverage obligation in its license.
Safaricom Ethiopia is owned by an international consortium that comprises of Vodafone Group, Safaricom PLC, Vodacom Group, Sumitomo Group and British International Investment. The consortium won the licence with a bid of $850 million (Sh97.9 billion) last year.
Safaricom Ethiopia is building its own wholly owned network but also has infrastructure sharing and interconnection agreement in place with Ethio Telecom.
Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO, had this to say, “For decades, Safaricom has combined the power of technology and our innovative spirit to solve customer and societal challenges. Led by our pourpose of transforming lives, we have deepened digital and financial inclusion in Kenya by connecting people to people, people to opportunities and people to information. With these lessons and experiences, we look forward to positively impacting the people of Ethiopia with a sustainable and quality mobile network that will be a vital launch pad for nationwide digital telecommunication service to over 118 million Ethiopians.