Safaricom Ethiopia has officially brought competition to the Ethiopian mobile sector with the announcement of its commercial launch. This development comes just a couple of months after the company kicked off a ‘large-scale customer pilot of its network’ in Dire Dawa in August 2022, before subsequently extending the pilot to ten further locations.
Safaricom Ethiopia has now confirmed in a press release that its network is commercially available in a total of eleven locations, those being: Dire Dawa, Harar, Haramaya, Adama, Bahir Dar, Bishoftu, Mojo, Debre Birhan, Awoday, Gondar and the capital, Addis Ababa. Looking ahead, the new mobile network operator (MNO) has said it plans to reach a further 14 cities with its infrastructure by April 2023 as part of its national rollout.
Commenting, Safaricom Ethiopia CEO Anwar Soussa said: ‘We are pleased to switch on our network and start services in Addis Ababa, and to hold our national launch ceremony. Building on the phased city-by-city customer pilots, we continue to invest in providing network and services to further cities and parts of the country in accordance with the obligations of our Unified Telecommunications Services Licence. As we prepare to serve all Ethiopians and contribute to transforming lives for a digital future in Ethiopia, I would like to extend my gratitude for the immense support shown to us by the Government of Ethiopia, our shareholders, and partners.’
Source: https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2022/10/07/safaricom-ethiopia-announces-commercial-launch/