Ethio Telecom CEO says to expect 150 cell sites over the next yearEthiopia’s Ethio Telecom launched a pre-commercial 5G network across six mobile stations in the capital city of Addis Ababa this week. Launched after a temporary 5G Spectrum approval by the Ethiopian Communication Authority, the pre-commercial network is supported by equipment from Huawei Technologies and ZTE, despite the international trend of blacklisting Chinese telecom vendors. Ethio Telecom has more than 60.8 million subscribers, with about 25 million data and Internet users, and claims coverage of roughly 97% of Ethiopia with 3G and 4G. Last month, Ethio Telecom struck a deal with rival Safaricom Ethiopia to share cell sites, interconnection and tower assets. According to Safaricom’s Group Chairman, Michael Joseph, “the deal is very important and critical for our commercial viability and launch.”

Source: Ethiopian News May 10, 2022 15:53 UTC