Addis Ababa: Ethiopia's state-owned telecom provider, Ethio Telecom, has defied foreign currency shortages to report a 26 percent rise in first half of 2023/2024 revenue, reaching 42.9 billion Birr. Compared to the same period last year, the revenue shows an increment of 8.86 billion Birr. This robust profit surge is attributed to strategic digital innovations and infrastructure advancements undertaken by the company. Ethio Telecom achieved this standout performance despite the recent entry of rival Safaricom into the Ethiopian market. Unveiling the financial results for the first half of 2023/2024, CEO Frehiwot Tamiru credited the success to "providing affordable new and enhanced products and services, along with various mobile financial and digital offerings." Driving this growth are key strategic initiatives by Ethio Telecom. Extensive infrastructure optimization through network upgrades has expanded reliability and customer loyalty, with 4G population coverage now reaching 340 towns and cities. Addi tionally, expenditure optimization efforts generated 2 billion Birr in cost savings, exceeding budget targets by 113 percent. Global service revenue also overperformed, earning 84.7 million USD and surpassing projections by 9 percent. The CEO said this 26 percent revenue increase marks a significant improvement from the same period last year, despite operational challenges like service disruptions due to security issues, power outages, vandalism of critical infrastructure, and foreign currency shortfalls. By driving higher adoption of 4G and digital services such as TeleBirr, Ethio Telecom has shown resilience and an ability to sustain strong growth momentum amidst intensifying industry competition. Launched in 2021, Ethio Telecom's TeleBirr platform now processes over 5 billion Birr in daily transactions, with a total customer transaction value exceeding 1.7 trillion Birr so far. With 41.1 million subscribers and TeleBirr emerging as a payments backbone for economic sectors, Ethio Telecom retains instrume ntal influence. As Africa's second-largest mobile operator with over 74.6 million customers, the 129-year old state-owned firm remains a dominant force in the continent's telecom landscape. In 2021, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed opened up Ethiopia's telecom industry to foreign players, approving new licenses to improve service quality, availability and affordability. Source: Ethiopian News Agency