Ethiopia’s state-owned telecom operator, Ethio Telecom, signed a strategic partnership agreement with Tele Mobile South Sudan to work together in the areas of international internet gateways and communication lines, telecom infrastructure expansion, and provisioning of telecom services, among others.

Ethio Telecom’s senior management team, led by its CEO, Frehiwot Tamru, visited South Sudan and held deliberations, particularly on capitalizing on the telecom infrastructure demands in South Sudan and telecom infrastructure expansion projects that can be undertaken in cooperation. Ethio Telecom’s delegation had a discussion with the Minister of Information, Communications, and Postal Services, the National Communications Authority, and other South Sudanese ministers and senior leaders.During the visit, Frehiwot Tamru said that Ethio Telecom would share its wealth of experience with the South Sudan government about expanding and managing telecom infrastructure and making sure the prices of telecom services are affordable.She also added that Ethio Telecom has already come to finalize the feasibility study to start operations and materialize the partnership.

Ethio Telecom said in a statement that in the bilateral discussion, the South Sudanese authorities appreciated the initiative of Ethio Telecom in exploring the telecom market in South Sudan and their readiness and commitment to providing all necessary support to Ethio Telecom.

In July, when Firehiwot talked about Ethio Telecom’s accomplishments in the Ethiopian fiscal year of 2021/22, she said, “Our goal is to build a telecom provider with a wide range of services and turn it into a national revenue generator that also works across borders.” As of July 2022, Ethio Telecom’s total subscribers reached 66.59 million, achieving 104% of the subscriber base target, among which are 64.5 million mobile voice subscribers, 26.1 million data and internet users, 885.3 thousand fixed service subscribers, and 506.8 thousand fixed broadband subscribers.

Tele Mobile South Sudan is a telecom service provider that collaborates with other businesses to provide telecommunications services. Telecom companies such as Zain, MTN, and Gamtel operate in South Sudan, sharing the country’s telecom market. According to Ethio Telecom’s annual report, it stands as the 26th largest operator in the world among 778 operators and the 2nd largest in Africa among 195 operators, trailing only MTN.