In May 2022, Ethio Telecom launched pre-commercial 5G in Ethiopia. The public company had benefited from the technical expertise of China’s Huawei and the support of the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA).
The public telecommunications company Ethio Telecom carried out the commercial launch of fifth generation (5G) mobile technology in Ethiopia on Saturday September 9. The incumbent operator promises its subscribers with compatible devices faster speeds, low latency and massive communication capacity. The network is available at 145 different locations in Addis Ababa. It will eventually be expanded to other parts of the country in the coming months.
The commercial 5G launch in Addis Ababa comes more than a year after the company launched a pre-commercial phase in the capital and Adama City. The public company had benefited from the technical expertise of the Chinese Huawei and the support of the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) which had granted it temporary authorization for the use of 5G spectrum.
The initiative is part of the actions undertaken by the historic operator to strengthen its telecoms infrastructure and the quality of its services, in response to the trade war caused by the liberalization of the national telecoms market. This is also in line with the commitment made by the state-owned company to work towards Ethiopia’s digital transformation.
“ 5G service is of considerable importance for smart home, healthcare services, hospital management, smart agriculture, education, industry and mining, manufacturing, airports and transportation services. smart travel, smart transportation and logistics, digital commerce, broadcasting and entertainment, and 5G cloud-based gaming ,” Ethio Telecom said.