North Western Region receives LTE boost

In its bid to cover the country with LTE Advanced service Ethio telecom now launched its service in its North Western Region. The North Western Region includes Bahirdar, Debremarkos, Chagni, Finote Selam, Injibara, dangila and Bure towns.
The expansion is based on where the company said that there is high mobile data traffic and surge in demand. “The service covers areas with a high demand for speedy internet,” said Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO of Ethio telecom during the launching ceremony held at Blue Nile Resort in Bahir Dar.
LTE Advanced mobile service is one of the latest mobile technologies providing reliable connections enriching customers’ experience with exceptional speed to download or upload large-sized data, high-definition (HD) multimedia, live streaming and video conferencing in real-time.
The new expansion will enable and empower customers to digitize their services, increase productivity and improve their experiences.
Speaking about the expansion of the new project at the launching ceremony Frehiwot said, “It opens a new chapter and brings an immediate impact on congested areas of telecom service.”
The project is one of ethio telecom’s three-year growth strategies, including data traffic growth, and demand-based 4G/LTE expansion around the country.
Huawei supported Ethio Telecom to provide and deliver a 4G LTE advanced service in North Western region of Ethiopia. Huawei-Ethiopia CEO Chen Mingliang during the launching ceremony said “Huawei is honored and delighted to collaborate with Ethio Telecom in bringing LTE to this beautiful city and the wider Ethio Telecom’s NWR circle. We hope that the launch of this LTE network helps the region in closing the digital divide and enjoy the fruits of the digital era.”
Over the next few weeks, ethio telecom has also a plan to launch similar services in other parts of the country, for which preparation works are already underway.
Currently, at least 769 new sites are under development. Furthermore, she said that over 103 cities are earmarked under the company’s program to enjoy 4G/LTE advanced telecom services.
The company has 50.7 million subscribers and a geographic coverage of 85.4 percent at a national level.
The telecom provider, which aspires to become a preferred telecom operator among customers and partners in Ethiopia, also declared revenues of 25.5 billion birr in the first half of the current Ethiopian fiscal year, achieving 95 percent of its target.
The revenue marks a 12.3 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
During this period, a regulation enactment was also witnessed from the Council of Ministers that incorporated changes such as; the authorized capital increased to 400 billion birr from 40 billion birr, the go ahead to engage in Mobile Money and related digital finance services, permission to engage in other related activities including forming an entity and further gives the right to invest on equities locally and at international level.
On matters valuation, the company’s Asset valuation work has also been completed and total asset value has increased by 42% using IFRS reporting standards.