Safaricom services have since gone live in Ethiopia. The launch, which is still in its pilot phase, comes more than one year after Safaricom, among its partners, first acquired a license to offer telco services in the country.
The initial rollout was launched in Dire Dawa.
Afterward, Safaricom launched services in the next city named Harari.
Now, the carrier has announced that residents of Haramaya City will be able to access Safaricom services. This is part of a plan to avail the services and products to Ethiopian citizens in the larger Oromia region.
The plan is to have Safaricom services available in 25 cities by April 2023.
As part of the license deal that cost USD 850 million, Safaricom Ethiopia should be able to provide 4G internet coverage in the whole country by the end of 2023.
Now, customers in the Oromia region should be able to purchase a Safaricom SIM card starting with the prefix 07. They can then choose the rest of their mobile phone numbers.
The SIM cards will include a free welcome bundle that has data, voice, and SMS units. Once exhausted, customers can buy airtime and replenish those units.
Customers in Haramaya will also have the option of accessing customer care services from the call centre in their preferred language (Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Af-Somali, Tigrigna, and English), by dialing 700 to speak to the customer experience agents.
“We are excited to continue our phased city-by-city customer trials in Haramaya city, after the regional network rollout in Dire Dawa city and Harari Region in the last week. This marks yet another milestone as we begin to offer services and continue rigorous service tests in Oromia region, building towards our national launch and serving all of Ethiopia. We thank the Government of Ethiopia; the Regional Government of Oromia; the Mayor of Haramaya City; the Ethiopian Communications Authority; network, IT, and distribution partners; community leaders; and all stakeholders for all their support towards realizing this and future milestones,” said Anwar Soussa, Chief Executive Officer, Safaricom Ethiopia.
