Ethio Telecom Drives Digital Growth with Record Network Expansion and 87 Million Customers
During the past six months, Ethio Telecom added 278 new mobile stations, including 130 in rural areas, raising network capacity by 3.21 million and bringing total customer carrying capacity to 108 million. The number of 4G-enabled towns reached 1,069, covering 74% of the population.
Ethio Telecom has reported robust performance for the first half of the 2025/26 fiscal year, covering July to December 2025, under its “Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028 Strategy.” The company is advancing Ethiopia’s digital transformation, promoting inclusion, creating jobs, and supporting economic growth while expanding its role in the regional and global digital economy.
During the past six months, Ethio Telecom added 278 new mobile stations, including 130 in rural areas, raising network capacity by 3.21 million and bringing total customer carrying capacity to 108 million. The number of 4G-enabled towns reached 1,069, covering 74% of the population. The backbone network was strengthened with 377.7 km of new fiber, bringing total fiber length to over 23,000 km, while International Internet Gateway capacity reached 3 Tbps, with local caching reducing foreign currency costs. Service reliability improved through new generators, upgraded solar-powered sites, and the addition of 3 super-fast EV charging stations, increasing total capacity to 72 vehicles.
In fixed broadband, 32,948 new premises were connected, total ODN capacity rose to 1.21 million, and 32,600 customers were migrated from copper to fiber. The company also expanded cloud and digital services, launched an e-commerce platform, and introduced 204 new or updated products, including enterprise solutions and digital finance services through telebirr. Telebirr now serves 58.61 million users, facilitating 1.94 trillion ETB in electronic money transfers during the period.
Ethio Telecom added 3.93 million new customers, bringing the total to 87.1 million, with 69.1 million active mobile users. Mobile voice users reached 84 million, mobile data users 49 million, and fixed broadband subscribers 934,700. First-half revenue totaled 85.02 billion ETB, a 37% increase from the same period last year, while cost-saving initiatives delivered 4.15 billion ETB, surpassing targets. The company also generated 88.19 million USD in foreign currency.
The company invested in human capital through 23,963 training sessions, promoted female leadership, and directly employed 44,031 people while supporting over 1.3 million jobs through agents, partners, and suppliers. Ethio Telecom registered 22 million citizens for the national digital ID, completing 69% of nationwide registrations, and pursued cross-border partnerships, including with Cameroon’s CAMTEL, to extend its digital services.
Cybersecurity remained a priority, keeping fraud-related revenue loss at 0.13%, and corporate social responsibility initiatives contributed 383 million ETB to education, health, environmental protection, and national development projects. The company also received several awards, including the GSMA Mobile Money Certification for telebirr, recognition for its e-commerce platform Zemen GEBEYA, and commendation of CEO Frehiwot Tamru’s leadership.
Overall, Ethio Telecom’s first-half performance reflects strong growth, expanding digital access, and a commitment to building a competitive, digitally empowered Ethiopia and Africa.
