Pre-commercial 5G services are being tested in Ethiopia.

The roll-out of the service in the capital, Addis Ababa, follows the Ethiopian Communication Authority’s granting of secured temporary 5G spectrum approval to the state-owned mobile network operator, Ethio Telecom.

The operator has already achieved 97% telecom services coverage after expanding its 3G and 4G networks across the country. This latest initiative ties into its efforts to improve and modernise the telecom services in Ethiopia.

According to the Ethiopian Monitor, Ethio Telecom plans to expand the service to about 150 sites over the next year as part of the pre-commercial trial. Compared to 4G, the service offers data speeds of up to 100 times faster, and can support nearly 1 million connected devices per km² (4G: 100 000).

The company will use the trial period to assess the readiness and demand for the service, as well as the availability of 5G-enabled devices.

24 May 2022
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