Ethio telecom launches 5G services in capital

 

Ethio-Telecom Chief Executive Officer, Frehiwot Tamru addresses delegates during the launch of a mobile phone-based financial service named Telebirr mobile money service, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Ethio Telecom, a state-owned company, started a 5G mobile phone service on Monday, putting it ahead of new competitors in a sector that had previously been closed to foreign operators.

 

5G networks, which may deliver data rates up to 20 times faster than 4G, are viewed as critical for developing technologies such as self-driving cars and smart device communication and interconnectivity.

 

The service would first be accessible in Addis Ababa, according to Ethio Telecom Chief Executive Officer Frehiwot Tamru, before being expanded to the rest of the country.

 

"The 5G service is now available in certain areas around Addis Ababa," she announced during the occasion. "We will have 150 5G stations in Addis Ababa and beyond in the next 12 months," says the company.

 

The cost of installing the network has not been disclosed by Frehiwot.

In a separate statement, Ethio Telecom, which has 64 million users across the country, said Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) was the network's equipment supplier.

 

In the half-year ended Dec. 31, revenues increased by 6.7 percent to 28 billion birr ($544.40 million).

 

Last June, the government began a tendering process to sell a 40% stake in Ethio Telecom to private investors.

 

The administration announced in March that the planned partial privatization had been postponed due to the current local and global economic situation.

 

The Ethiopian Communication Authority announced in December that it had also delayed a bidding process for a second telecommunications license, which it stated will be relaunched in the "near future."

 

In May 2021, the 110 million-strong Horn of Africa country sold only one of two full-service licenses on offer.

 

The consortium that won the first license, led by Kenya's Safaricom SCOM.NR, Vodafone (VOD.L), and Japan's Sumitomo (8053.T), is now putting up its network in preparation for an anticipated commercial debut at any moment.

 

The licences are considered a big prize in the country's push to liberalise the economy, which had been one of the world's last major closed telecoms markets.