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Ethiopia Telecommunications Profile

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Telephones - main lines in usetotal subscriptions: 1,095,946

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1.04 (2019 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellulartotal subscriptions: 38,147,361

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 36.2 (2019 est.)
Telecommunication systemsgeneral assessment:

telecom market challenged by political factionalism and reorganization of ruling party; despite some gains in access, Ethiopia remains one of the least-connected countries in the world; state-owned telecom held a monopoly over services until 2019 when government approved legislation and opened the market to competition and foreign investment; new expansion of LTE services; government reduced tariffs leading to increases in data and voice traffic; government launched mobile app as part of e-government initiative to build smart city; Huawei provides infrastructure to government operator and built data center in Addis Ababa; government disrupted service during political crises; importer of broadcasting equipment from China (2020)

(2020)

domestic: fixed-line subscriptions at 1 per 100 while mobile-cellular stands at 36 per 100; the number of mobile telephones is increasing steadily (2019)

international: country code - 251; open-wire to Sudan and Djibouti; microwave radio relay to Kenya and Djibouti; 2 domestic satellites provide the national trunk service; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Pacific Ocean) (2016)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Broadcast media6 public TV stations broadcasting nationally and 10 public radio broadcasters; 7 private radio stations and 19 community radio stations (2017)
Internet country code.et
Internet userstotal: 19,118,470

percent of population: 18.62% (July 2018 est.)
Broadband - fixed subscriptionstotal: 580,120

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1 (2017 est.)

Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021

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