Ethiopia

MTN backs out of Ethiopia, as it renews operating license in Rwanda

South Africa’s MTN have expressed their unlikeliness to resubmit a bid to enter Ethiopia’s telecoms market, Bloomberg reported citing sources familiar with the matter.   The company’s possible move, came after Ethiopia announced earlier this week plans to re-open bidding on second operator license including the right to operate mobile financial services.  This comes as a surprise to many, as […]

Ethiopia to re-open bidding on second operator licence

Ethiopia will reopen bidding for its second telecoms operator licence this month, two senior government officials said on Monday, including the right to operate mobile financial services. “We have made some changes that can uplift its value, for instance mobile financial service,” Balcha Reba, director general of the Ethiopian Communication Authority. The International Finance Corporation, […]

Ethio Telecom records 18.4% rise in revenues

Ethiopia’s liberalization of its telecommunications sector is in full swing, as the state-run Ethio Telecom reported an 18.4 percent rise in full year revenue as of end of June to $1.29 billion, the telco’s CEO Frehiwot Tamiru told reporters on Tuesday. The provider’s ballooning revenue streams were followed by a 22 percent hike in subscribers […]

ECA suspends plan to liberalize the Ethiopian telecom sector

Ethiopia is considered the latest country in the world to have a monopolized telecom sector.  However, in 2019, the Ethiopian authorities decided to liberalize the sector by securing two licenses to new service operators as well as selling a 40% stake in Ethio Telecom. Ethio Telecom, the company that has been managing the telecom sector […]

Foreign interest in Ethiopia’s telecoms markets

The two decades of Telecom sector monopoly lead by Ethio Telecom will be concluded. On May 21, 2020, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority has launched the invitation for submission of Expression of Interest (EOI) for Telecommunications Service Licenses. The deadline to submit the applications for licenses was on June 22, 2020. The Communications Service Proclamation No. […]

Steps to reform the telecoms industry in Ethiopia

Telecommunications reforms have been taking place in the whole world. However, Ethiopia is one of the latest countries to have a monopoly on its telecom industry. Ethio Telecom, has been the only telecommunications network operator and provider of telecommunications services. The telecoms industry in Ethiopia has seen growth due to the government investment through a […]