(ETHIO TELECOM)-At a media event held at the Ethiopian Science Museum, Ethio Telecom CEO Frehiwot Tamiru presented the company’s 2024/25 fiscal year performance results, announcing a 72.9% year-on-year increase in total revenue and the successful completion of its three-year LEAD Growth Strategy.

For the fiscal year running from July 2024 to June 2025, Ethio Telecom generated 162 billion Ethiopian birr in revenue (approximately USD 2.8 billion), with foreign currency earnings reaching USD 213.6 million. The company’s subscriber base grew to 83.2 million, a 6.2% increase from the previous year, raising national telecom penetration to 73.7%.

Tamiru detailed the rollout of 1,683 new mobile sites, nearly half of which are located in rural areas. This expansion increased 4G population coverage from 37.5% to 70.8%, while overall mobile network coverage now reaches 99.4% of the population and 86.5% of the country’s geography. Network capacity expanded to serve 104.8 million subscribers. Additionally, 5G services were extended to 26 cities, and Massive MIMO technology was deployed at 306 sites.

Ethio Telecom added 686 kilometers of backbone fiber, bringing the total to 22,673 kilometers, and increased Optical Distribution Network (ODN) capacity to 951,982 connections. Fiber was also extended to urban mobile sites, alongside the installation of 216 kilometers of metro ring protection to enhance network reliability.

The company experienced robust growth in digital financial services, with telebirr registering 7.3 million new users during the year, bringing its total to 54.84 million users. Telebirr facilitated transactions worth 2.38 trillion birr, including 13.2 billion birr in micro-loans and 11.2 billion birr in digital savings. The platform also generated USD 14.4 million through international remittance services.

Ethio Telecom expanded its cloud and data services to meet rising demand. Its data center now operates at 5 MW IT load, featuring 624 racks and cloud infrastructure delivering over 31,000 virtual CPUs, supporting more than 650 institutions.

In rural areas, 2,388 previously unserved villages were connected to mobile service, reaching 5.9 million residents. To improve service reliability, the company installed 141 solar power systems and commissioned 66 new generators.

During the year, 10.4 million citizens enrolled in the National Digital ID Program via Ethio Telecom centers, generating 2.94 billion birr in revenue.

The company also contributed 450 million birr to corporate social responsibility initiatives focused on education, health, humanitarian aid, and environmental sustainability.

Tamiru emphasized that the three-year LEAD Growth Strategy resulted in 100% revenue growth, 16.6 million new customers, 22.4 billion birr in cost savings, and significant gains in smartphone and service accessibility. Over the same period, Ethio Telecom launched 838 new or improved products, expanded its data and fiber network, and increased its total asset value from 215 billion to 329 billion birr.

Ethio Telecom’s achievements over the past year and during the strategy period earned multiple recognitions, including awards from Juniper Research, AVAYA, and the GSMA Board, along with leadership acknowledgments for CEO Frehiwot Tamiru from Forbes Africa and others.