‘We’re Coming’, says Safaricom Ethiopia after Successful First Test Call

ADDIS ABABA – Safaricom Ethiopia said it has successfully made the first technical call as the telecoms firm continues preparations to launch commercial services.

“Our team just made the first technical call,” revealed Safaricom Ethiopia, in a twitter post with a hash tag #Wearecoming, on Saturday.

“Excited about the journey ahead!,” the telco firm said.

The first test call was made two weeks after Safaricom announced it had built its first data centre in Addis Ababa.

“At such a monumental time where we are building our network, we are committed to bringing the best telecom technology to Ethiopia. We have invested 100 Million USD in our first Data Center in Addis,” the company said in a LinkedIn post.

The prefabricated data center was reportedly built in China over a number of weeks, before being transported to Addis Ababa, where the Center is located.

The center is the beginning of many more required to provide quality service the country with a population number of more than 110 million.

“We need a number of data centers across Ethiopia to be able to cover the whole territory,” said Pedro Rabacal, Safaricom’s chief technology officer.

Safaricom is expected to officially launch commercial services in the first quarter of 2022, making it Ethiopia’s second telecoms operator.

Until last year, the state-owned Ethio Telecom operated with a monopoly on the sector.

However, the Global Partnership for Ethiopia, a consortium led by Kenya’s Safaricom, Vodafone, and Japan’s Sumitomo were awarded a license to operate in Ethiopia in May 2021.

The consortium, now known as Safaricom Ethiopia, paid $850 million for the license and plans to invest more than $8 billion in the digital infrastructure of the country.

 

– Em/Agencies

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