Local media reported that the launch took place Monday May 9, following deployment of the service by China-based Huawei Technologies Co. The project cost Ethiopia a whooping $40 million.
For now, the 5G network service will only be available at designated hotspots across Addis Ababa, including Bole International Airport and Ethio Telecom’s headquarters.
Business Insider Africa understands that expansion to other parts of the country would happen in the coming months. Ethio Telecom’s Chief Executive Officer, Frehiwot Tamru, was quoted by The East African to have said this:
“The 5G service is launched in selected places in Addis Ababa. In the coming 12 months, we will have 150 5G sites in Addis Ababa and in major cities outside the capital.”
With the launch, Ethiopia has become one of a handful of African countries that have launched the fifth generation network. These countries are: South Africa, Seychelles, Botswana, Mauritius and Zimbabwe.
Also note that the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) had last week granted final approval to two network carriers to also launch 5G network in Africa’s most populous country.
In the meantime, the adoption rate for 5G network across Africa remains low. This is despite the fact that telecoms operators in other parts of the world have been deploying the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular network since 2019.
As a matter of fact, 5G network penetration in Africa is so abysmally low such that ICT experts have projected that in the next 4-5 years, only about 20 million Africans would have subscribed to it.
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