Somalilandsun: Safaricom will access the giant network of Ethiopian State monopoly Ethio Telecom allowing the telco to roll out its services across the vast Horn of Africa nation.
Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) director-general Balcha Reba said the network sharing deal will be crucial for Safaricom as it will enable Safaricom customers to also call across Ethio telecom’s vast network.
This follows an Ethiopian government-backed deal that paves the way for Safaricom to start commercial operations in the market of 110 million people, Safaricom Ethiopia officials now say.
“The deal is very important and critical for our commercial viability and launch. Hopefully (we will launch) soon but we don’t have a date yet,” Safaricom chairman Michael Joseph told the Business Daily.
The Safaricom consortium, which also includes British development finance agency CDC Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, won the licence with a bid of $850 million and aims to start commercial operations this year.
Under the deal, whose financial terms are yet to be publicly revealed, Ethio Telecom will provide Safaricom Ethiopia with access to cell sites, masts and other active elements such as network roaming.
“We have agreed in principle on power-sharing, interconnection and tower sharing but it is not concluded as we are yet to sign a final agreement,” Safaricom Ethiopia public relations and communications manager, Tewedaj Eshetu, was quoted saying by the Ethiopian publication The Reporter.
The consortium had been tipped to launch commercial services on April 9, 2022.
The Ethiopian telecoms regulator is considering extending the launch day by “one or two months”, local reports said.
