On the evening of Tuesday, December 4, 2019, the walkways of a road that stretches from Mexico to Bole was very busy with people who were on their way back home from the office and others headed somewhere else.

The roads were also crowded by street vendors selling a flurry of fast-moving items, clothes and shoes for both adults and children, a challenge for pedestrians to circumvent.

On the same day, Mesqel Square, a popular site for public gatherings, demonstrations and festivals, was having the same experience.

Among those who crowded the road were youngsters with speakers blaring loud music, small white suitcases that are hard to miss and flyers advertising their screen coating service. Most of them are thronged by people either who seek their service or wanted to see what they do.

The sellers also move from place to place, station the equipment they use to coat phones on the street and call out to passersby to invite them to try the new technology.

One mode of advertisement is hitting the screen of a smartphone with a small hammer or another hard object to show how the coating protects the screen from breaking. The demonstration advertises a chemical that is used to coat a mobile phone screen to protect it from being broken or cracked.

The sidewalk sales associates spray the coating solution, which solidifies on the screen. A protective layer of 13 microns is formed to fill the unevenness of the screen making the screen smoother, increasing its sharpness and making it easy to clean off dirt, grease and bacteria, as stated on the product's label.

The service providers also claim that it is not sticky, it does not absorb water, it protects eyes from harmful radiation, and it can be used for a long time.

Mihret Desalnge, the 23-year-old makeup artist, was among the crowd at Mesqel Square stopping by one dealer to get a nano-coating ultraviolet mobile phone screen protector and disinfector vendors.

Nanotechnology is used to protect clothes, furniture, vehicles, buildings and even mobile phones from numerous environmental factors.

The technology can be applied to different industries and consumer goods. Nano-coating is used in six main fields: textiles, aerospace, vehicles, construction, marine, furniture and mobile phones.

Mihret says that she heard people are using this screen protector widely.

‘‘My phone broke before, because I didn’t use protective safety glass,” she told Fortune.

Even though she claims that she has doubts about its durability and the safety of her phone, she decided to try it by getting the service from Isayas Kibrom. In his early 30s and living near Abenet, Isayas is one of the many new providers seen daily on the street.

Previously, Isayas was involved in many kinds of work, ranging from producing and directing films to car bidding and the rental business, but he did not take long to join this new screen protection trend after his 10,000 Br mobile phone broke down into pieces.

‘‘I thought that it could happen to anyone,’’ he said.

Isayas charges 150 Br to have a mobile screen coated. He bought the machine for 15,000 Br.

In a single week, he made an income of 10,000, Br indicating the business can easily be transported from one location to another.

In a nano-coating machine, there are two coating appliances, two nano liquid holders, two lense cleaners, two LED flashlights for use at night and two essential dryers.

Isayas learned about the technology and how to use it from watching Youtube videos.

He got his Korean made machine from an individual importer. Though he likes the business, rival retailers who import duplicate machines from another country have become a headache to him.

‘‘What people want is unbreakable and waterproof mobile screens; however, some machines don't guarantee quality and don’t have the original chemicals that will stay longer, which compromises customers' trust," complains Isayas.

Currently, he is trying to compete in the market by reducing his price to 100 Br.

He says that this business is an excellent opportunity for people but fears that it will die off soon.