Ethio telecom has taken its 4G LTE Advanced service to the country's Southwestern Region. The company continued its expansion campaign by launching the service in nine towns last week, namely Jimma, Agaro, Bedele, Bonga, Koisha, Metu, Mizan, Masha, and Tepi. It has so far availed the network in over 50 towns and cities outside of the capital. The company has over 146,000 internet users in these areas, of which almost half of whom own 4G LTE-enabled smartphones. The partial privatisation of Ethio telecom is also progressing, with the Ministry of Finance announcing the call for an expression of interest (EOI) last week to sell 40pc of the company's shares to foreign investors and five percent to the public. The EOI deadline is July 14, 2021.