Ethio Telecom expects to secure 90.5 Billion Birr in annual revenues in the current 2023/24 Ethiopian fiscal year.
The figure is nearly 15 billion birr higher than the total revenues the state-owned telecom company secured last year.
On Thursday, CEO Frehiwot Tamru announced Ethio Telecom’s annual business plan that aims not only to increase revenues but also its customer base.
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The plan was designed as per the telco’s LEAD Growth Strategy and its objective to be a leading digital solutions provider in the country.
The three-year strategy was launched in the same year its rival Safaricom Ethiopia launched commercial mobile network services in October 2022.
“We will commit our resources”
Apart from offering basic telecom services, CEO Frehiwot says Ethio Telecom will implement network expansion programs that increase the quality of service and network density.
The planned projects involve deploying 998 new Mobile sites, 144 of them in rural areas, to bring their total to 9,078 as well as adding 1,376 kilometers of new backbone fiber to increase the total network to 24,552km.
The company also plans to increase its 5G network as well as expand and optimize 4G/LTE and 3G Network to meet the growing demand of data users.
These and other activities will bring the total mobile service capacity to 92 million by the end of the fiscal year, per the CEO.
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“We will commit our resources and efforts towards satisfying our customers and continuously enhancing their experience by providing various service options,” the CEO noted.
Customer base to grow
Ethio Telecom currently offers 203 local and international products and services for 72 million customers. This customer base is expected to get bigger this year by 8.4% to 78 million.
The growth involves expanding subscribers share for a mobile voice service by 7.5% to 74.74 million, data & Internet service to 41.17 million (+21%) while raising tele density to 71%.
The company’s business plan has also put emphasis on the TeleBirr digital financial services and its 34.3 million, projected to show a 28.5% growth to 44.1 million.
Frehiwot says the focus will be expanding Telebirr’s access, service types, and partners network, and enhancing service delivery as well as offering installment-based handsets.
Through current and new business streams, we aim to generate 90.5 billion Birr at the end of the twelve-month period, says the telecom company, setting a target 19.4% more than the 75.8 billion Birr it secured last year.
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The state-owned telecom operator is currently the subject of an active privatization bid as the telecom business in the country of more than 115 million people attracts investors. The government plans to sell off its 40% stake in Ethio Telecom in addition to issuing a second full telecom operator license to private investors.
