Ethio Telecom looks to offer over 250,000 discounted smartphones to low-income rural communities, looking to significantly narrow the digital divide. The giant parastatal has unveiled its ambitious 2024/25 Annual Business Plan at Skylight Hotel on Africa Avenue. Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO, states this year’s bold aim is to catalyze positive social and economic outcomes across society while also enhancing the efficiency of institutions and significantly boosting productivity. A cornerstone of this strategy is the construction of 1,298 new mobile sites, looking to expand 5G services in 15 more cities and 4G services to an additional 500 towns and cities. In all, the telecom giants aims to extend its network coverage to 1,000 rural kebeles. The company has also committed to distributing over 1.1 million telecom devices to both individual and enterprise customers. It’s telebirr customer base is also earmarked to grow by 15.7pc, while projecting to generate 282.85 million dollars through the expansion of international strategic partnerships. Ethio Telecom’s growth trajectory incorporates a projected 6pc increase in the subscriber base to reach 83 million customers to secure a 74.7pc gain in revenue from 93 billion to 163.7 billion Br in this fiscal year.

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