Safaricom Ethiopia has today rolled out a large-scale customer pilot of its network in the Harari region. Harari region plays a vital role in our phased city-by-city regional network roll-out and rigorous service tests building towards our national launch.
Customers will be able to purchase SIM cards and choose their preferred numbers on Safaricom Ethiopia’s 07 prefix. The Safaricom Ethiopia SIM cards will come with the welcome offer of Data, Voice and SMS for customers to test and experience the network for one month. In addition to the welcome package, customers will be able to actively purchase airtime vouchers from shops or branded souks to recharge their airtime balance to continue using services on the network.
On Safaricom Ethiopia’s test network in Harari, they will be able to use data services; make calls and send SMS to Safaricom Ethiopia and Ethio Telecom customers and make international calls worldwide.
In addition to the branded shops and souks, three shops in Arategna, Sellassie, Shewaber areas will be open to the public for registration purposes, purchase of devices and dedicated customer support. Customers will also have the option of accessing customer care services from the call centre in their preferred language (Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Af-Somali, Tigrigna, and English), by dialling 700 to speak to the customer experience agents.
“Harari holds great historic relevance in Ethiopia, and we are excited to roll out our customer pilot for Safaricom Ethiopia’s network and services in this region. We thank the Government of Ethiopia; the President and Regional Government of Harari; the Ethiopian Communications Authority; network, IT and distribution partners; community leaders; and all stakeholders for all their support towards realizing this and future milestones. I look forward to sharing further updates, as we extend the network and customer pilot across other regions.” said Anwar Soussa, Chief Executive Officer, Safaricom Ethiopia.
This rollout of the customer pilot in Harari region follows the switching on of the network and services in Dire Dawa City this week as part of switching on our network and services in 25 cities by April 2023, working in partnership with government, businesses, local communities, and other stakeholders as part of our long-term commitment to transforming lives for a digital future in line with the Digital Ethiopia objectives.