Ethio Telecom Expands 4G, 5G and Fiber Networks in First Year of 2028 Strategy
Over the past year, the state-owned operator deployed 603 new mobile sites, increasing its nationwide network footprint to 10,613 sites.
Ethio Telecom has announced significant progress in expanding Ethiopia’s digital infrastructure, marking the successful completion of the first year of its Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028 Strategy.
Over the past year, the state-owned operator deployed 603 new mobile sites, increasing its nationwide network footprint to 10,613 sites. The expansion added capacity for 10.2 million customers, bringing the company’s total mobile network capacity to 115.1 million users.
To improve network reliability and sustainability, 44% of mobile sites are now supported by backup generators, while 24% of off-grid sites operate on solar energy, strengthening service resilience across the country.
Ethio Telecom also accelerated mobile broadband expansion by extending 4G/LTE services to 264 additional towns, raising the total number of 4G-enabled towns to 1,200 and increasing 4G population coverage to 82.2%. Meanwhile, its 5G network expanded to 33 towns, including seven newly connected locations, broadening access to next-generation connectivity.
The operator continued to strengthen the backbone of Ethiopia’s digital economy, expanding its national backbone fiber and Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) network to 23,422 kilometres, supported by 15,615 kilometres of metro fiber infrastructure.
Its Optical Distribution Network (ODN) capacity reached 1.46 million, comprising 708,992 greenfield capacity and 759,735 copper-switch-off capacity.
As part of its fixed broadband modernization efforts, Ethio Telecom migrated 100,000 customers from copper to fiber, helping its fixed broadband subscriber base surpass one million customers. Of these, 443,298 customers are connected through fiber-optic services.
The company also expanded its international gateway and local content-cache capacity by 1.8 Tbps, bringing total capacity to 4.3 Tbps, equivalent to 172% of its annual target. The expanded caching infrastructure supports global platforms including Google, Meta, Netflix, TikTok and Cloudflare, reducing dependence on international bandwidth while improving content delivery speeds and customer experience.
Ethio Telecom said the infrastructure investments strengthen its contribution to Ethiopia’s Digital Ethiopia 2030 agenda by building a more resilient, inclusive and future-ready digital ecosystem that supports citizens, businesses and public institutions.
