We are thrilled to announce that our company has successfully deployed 100 new rural mobile solutions in previously unserved rural areas, enabling over 903,000 residents across 305 kebeles to get telecom services for the first time.
Our company, a pioneer in providing telecommunications services in Africa and one that has been significantly contributing to our country’s comprehensive development for the past 130 years by making the latest technological advancements widely accessible to our community, is delighted to announce that it has built a new and modern rural mobile connectivity solution in rural kebeles, which lets rural communities to access telecommunications services for the first time thereby reducing the network coverage gap.
Our company, which is working to realize digital Ethiopia, narrow the digital inclusion gap and support the growth of the digital economy, announced its commitment to deploy 500 rural mobile solutions in remote areas of our country in March 2024. During the announcement, it committed to deliver 100 rural mobile solutions in the year 2024.
Accordingly, we are proud to have achieved our first milestone by deploying 100 rural mobile solutions this year, bringing connectivity to the unserved 305 rural Kebeles and 903,000 residents. This achievement underscores our unwavering commitment to bridging the digital divide and ensuring equitable access to connectivity for all.
Following the successful of completion of the first phase of the project, Ethio telecom’s top management along with the local government officials and community members are now celebrating the official launch in the areas where the services have been launched.
The project was deployed and completed in a short period of time despite the challenges such as difficult terrain, lack of roads, scattered settlements, and power shortages with the invaluable support from the local communities.
This innovative rural connectivity solution is eco-friendly, solar powered, scalable technology with 2G and 3G connectivity and a capacity for 4G upgrades and free from environmental pollution.
The implementation of this rural connectivity makes our company one of the few prominent telecom operators in Africa to realize the rural connectivity project, and it will considerably shorten the journey that local communities used to travel by up to 20 km on average to get connectivity services, which will in turn help ensure the long-term sustainable development and economic opportunities of rural areas. This service not only enables the rural part of our country to get basic telecom services, but also substantially contribute to bridge the existing digital divide between rural people and cities by empowering them to digital services in areas such as education, health, agriculture and other sectors thereby creating economic opportunities for citizens and improving the life of local citizens. The expansion of this infrastructure showcases our company’s unwavering commitment and principle of inclusiveness and plays paramount roles in the community living in the dispersed remote rural areas. It can also improve local communities’ lives for it enables them to use telebirr and access digital based micro credit and saving services beyond sending, receiving and making transactions, thereby joining the digital world.In the next phase, our company aims to expand mobile services in rural areas of our country where basic telecommunication services are not accessible, to bring digital inclusion to rural communities, to reduce network coverage gaps, and to implement digital solutions that ensure the economic development of rural communities. Hence, calls for collaboration from all stakeholders, including regulators, policymakers, development partners, and technology providers. Our company also emphasizes that the local community should play a major role in protecting the network infrastructure from any danger by fostering a feeling of ownership to this valuable infrastructure. In conclusion, our company expresses its heartfelt gratitude to our company’s family, stakeholders and local community for their great contribution to the success of this project. It also confirms its commitment to strongly continue its on-going large-scale projects being undertaken in the technology sector for building our country’s digital economy and for realizing our society’s comprehensive changes.
Rural Connectivity Project Launched Regions
Ethio telecom
August 10, 2024