ADDIS ABABA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's first private telecom firm, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia Private Limited Company (PLC), on Thursday announced its plans to launch initial services next month.

In a press statement, Safaricom Ethiopia said a phased commercial launch will commence in August 2022, with the eventual goal of switching on the network in 25 cities across the country by April 2023.

"Safaricom Ethiopia is looking forward to switching on our network and services, starting with Dire Dawa city from August 2022 and 24 other cities in phases across the country in the coming months," read the statement.

Safaricom Ethiopia also said it's currently in a testing period to ensure that when it switches on, it will deliver a quality experience for Ethiopians.

Ethiopia awarded its first private telecom license in May 2021 to a Safaricom-led consortium for a license fee of 850 million U.S. dollars.

The Safaricom consortium includes South African firm Vodacom, United Kingdom (UK) telecom firm Vodafone, Sumitomo Corporation from Japan and CDC Group PLC from the UK.

Separately, Ethiopia plans to sell up to 40 percent of shares in the state-owned telecom monopoly Ethio-Telecom.

Ethiopia's telecom industry is considered a huge untapped market, as the east African country has the second largest population in Africa, only after Nigeria. Enditem

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