Safaricom Ethiopia has met its latest deadline for the beginning of its network rollout with a phased city-by-city customer network pilot beginning in Dire Dawa City in eastern Ethiopia. The customer pilot in Dire Dawa will be on 2G, 3G and 4G networks; customers will be able to purchase SIM cards and choose their preferred numbers on Safaricom Ethiopia's 07 prefix. Customers will also be able to purchase airtime vouchers to recharge their airtime balance to continue using services on the network. On the test network in Dire Dawa, customers will be able to use data services, make calls and send SMS to Safaricom Ethiopia and (state-owned incumbent) Ethio Telecom customers, and make international calls worldwide. An investment of an estimated US$1 billion and a large recruitment drive of some 500 staff to date are supporting this rollout which should see the Safaricom Ethiopia network and services available in 25 cities by April 2023.

Source: Ethiopian News August 30, 2022 03:19 UTC