State-run Ethio Telecom has scooped $580 million in revenue in the first half of the current Ethiopian fiscal year which began on July 8, 2021.
The gross revenue has shown a 6.7 percent increase as compared to the same months last year and achieved 86.4 percent of its revenue target, Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO of Ethio Telecom told journalists on Tuesday.
According to the CEO, Ethio Telecom started offering 23 new and 19 revamped local and international products and services that generated $74.8 million from international business in the six months beginning on July 8, 2021.
It also registered a 100 percent achievement in terms of its half-year subscriber-base target, increasing its customer number by 20 percent to 60.8 million.
Mobile voice subscribers reached 58.7 million, Data and Internet users 23.8 million, Fixed Services 923,000 and Fixed Broadband subscribers reached 443, 000, it said.
Telecom density has reached 58.5 percent.
“Given the current challenging environment in our country, this achievement can be considered remarkable,” said the company whose half-year revenue was significantly affected by security-related challenges in Ethiopia.
Due to these challenges, the company said its 3,473 base transceiver stations (BTSs) were not functional in the six months, resulting in a revenue loss of over $61 million during this period.
The state-owned firm, however, will have a competitor this year in the name of Safaricom Ethiopia which will be joining the telecom foray shortly.
MG/as/APA