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•Customer base reaches 74.6 mln
ADDIS ABABA –Ethio telecomdisclosed that it has amassed 11 billion Birr net profit in the first six months of the current fiscal year, surpassing that of last year same period by 14 %.
Presenting the company’s six- month performance report yesterday, Ethio telecom CEO Frehiwot Tamru said 42.9 billion Birr total revenue has also been secured in the reported period. The expansion of revenue sources and the provision of affordable and revamped products and services are tools for the operator to achieve 98 percent of the target it set for the half-year.
Compared with previous year same period, this year’s income shows an 8.86 billion Birr (26%) increment. Also, the operator secured some 84.7 million USD was and achieved 109% of its target.
The CEO further noted that Telebirr has acquired 41 million customers in the half year, achieving 104 % of its target with a transaction value of 910.7 billion Birr. Since its launch, a total of 1.7 trillion Birr has been transacted in the economy.
The company has paid 18.5 billion Birr in tax, 2.46 billion Birr in loan repayment and four billion Birr in dividend in the first half year. Furthermore, it has been conducting financial audits to ensure transparency and implement regulations and guidelines issued by regulatory bodies.
According toFrehiwot, the total subscribers reached to 74.6 million and the operator achieved 98.3 % of the subscriber base target. In terms of service types, mobile voice subscribers reached 71.7 million, fixed broadband688,300, fixed voice834, 000and data and interest users reached 36.4 million. Hence, telecom density reached 68.5%.
During the half year, 41 new mobile stations that can accommodate 229,000 customers have been made on air in rural areas providing services in 10 states and 41 districts. In addition, 3 G expansion works have been carried out in 92 existing sites in rural areas.
As part of promoting financial inclusion, Ethio telecom has provided over 8.3 billion Birr loanto its 3.8 million customers. Moreover, 1447 gas stations started receiving fuel payments via telebirr as part of fuel management digitalization initiative and over 54 billion Birr fuel transactions managed in this way.
Over the last six months, the company registered an average of 1.13 million new customers per month in money transfer partnerships in utility payment services, microfinance and other new services, she remarked.
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2024