The telecom provider cited rising operational expenses as the reason behind the increase in the fees of its services.
The company in a statement Thursday disclosed that the increase was due to the country’s new floating exchange rate policy implemented two months ago.
The new tariffs impacted mobile services, fixed and wireless broadband, international calls, Telebirr transfers, and SMS.
Ethio Telecom explained that the sharp devaluation of the Ethiopian Birr (ETB) has drastically inflated its costs, especially for imported technology, international bandwidth, and equipment—most of which are paid for in foreign currencies.
“The recent changes in the exchange rate have drastically inflated our costs, particularly for infrastructure and international services, making it unsustainable to maintain our current tariffs,” the company stated.
Ethio Telecom highlighted that the tariff adjustments are critical to ensuring the company’s sustainability in the face of these mounting costs.
Despite the overall increase, Ethio Telecom has made efforts to keep certain popular low-cost packages affordable. Daily packages priced at 3 and 5 birr, the 1 birr/hour offer, as well as student and night packages, remain unchanged to minimize the impact on consumers with limited budgets.
The most significant changes are in international call rates, which have surged by up to 658 percent, and Telebirr transfers to banks, which have also seen a sharp increase. Ethio
Telecom attributes these increases to the rising costs of infrastructure and services that rely on foreign currencies for equipment and maintenance.
MG/abj/APA