Operator posts record revenue and strong network expansion, though subscriber, device and infrastructure targets fell short while financial disclosures remain limited.

Ethio Telecom reported ETB 215.82 billion in revenue for the 2025/26 financial year, marking a 33.2% year-on-year increase and achieving 99.7% of its annual revenue target, according to the state-owned operator’s latest annual performance report.

The result represents another year of strong top-line growth for Ethiopia’s largest telecom operator as data services continued to reshape the company’s business and telebirr expanded its footprint across the country.

However, a closer examination of the report shows that while revenue approached target, several of the company’s strategic operational goals—including mobile data users, smartphone adoption, fibre deployment and telebirr customer growth—fell short of plan.

Revenue Growth Strong in Birr, More Modest in Real and Dollar Terms

Measured in Ethiopian birr, Ethio Telecom’s revenue increased from an implied ETB 162 billion in the previous year to ETB 215.82 billion, representing 33.2% nominal growth.

Adjusting for Ethiopia’s inflation over the reporting period, which averaged in the low double digits, the company’s real revenue growth is estimated at roughly 19–20%.

Using approximate average exchange rates over the two reporting periods, revenue is estimated to have risen from around USD 1.33 billion to approximately USD 1.46 billion, equivalent to growth of about 8–10% in dollar terms.

The company reports only the nominal birr growth and does not disclose revenue on an inflation-adjusted or foreign currency basis.

Several Operational Targets Missed

While the operator exceeded its overall customer target, most major usage and infrastructure indicators finished below plan.

Ethio Telecom ended the year with 90.12 million total customers, exceeding its target by reaching 101.7% of plan.

However, active mobile subscribers reached 72.09 million, achieving 94.4% of target, while active mobile data users totaled 51.53 million, only 91.0% of the planned 56.63 million users.

Other areas below target included:

  • Active SMS users: 65.65 million (93.9% of target)
  • Fixed broadband customers: 1.0 million (99.3%)
  • Device sales: 832,656 units (88.8%)
  • Backbone fibre deployment: 793 km (72.0%)
  • telebirr customers: 60.6 million (96.9%)
  • telebirr transaction value: ETB 4.19 trillion (92.8%)

Some indicators exceeded expectations.

telebirr processed 2.61 billion transactions, reaching 124.6% of target, while the company opened 217 new service centres, nearly doubling its annual objective with 197.3% target attainment.

Data Business Becomes Largest Revenue Source

One of the report’s most significant milestones is the continued shift toward digital services.

For the first time in the company’s history, data and internet services became Ethio Telecom’s largest source of revenue, contributing 31.1% of total income, surpassing voice services at 23.5%.

The company said data revenue has recorded a 35.9% compound annual growth rate since 2018, compared with 9.5% for voice services.

Despite this structural shift, the company missed its mobile data user target by more than 5 million subscribers, suggesting slower-than-expected adoption.

Smartphone penetration reached 45.2%, meaning more than half of Ethio Telecom’s subscribers still do not regularly access mobile data services. Device sales also fell below target despite the company’s smartphone financing and affordability initiatives.

Network Expansion Continues

The operator continued expanding network coverage during the year, deploying 195 new telecom sites that extended services to 117 woredas and 492 kebeles, providing connectivity to an estimated 1.53 million people.

Geographic 4G coverage increased from 21.06% to 36.29%.

Fixed broadband subscriptions surpassed one million customers, growing 18% year-on-year. The company also expanded its fibre access infrastructure to 1.46 million Optical Distribution Network (ODN) ports and migrated more than 72,000 customers from legacy copper networks.

However, backbone fibre construction reached only 793 kilometres against a target of 1,100 kilometres, achieving just 72% of plan.

Efficiency Improves

Ethio Telecom also reported improvements in operational efficiency.

The company generated ETB 14.61 billion in cost savings through its Do2Save programme, helping increase its EBITDA margin to 17.9%, up from approximately 15.7% in the previous year.