Ethio Telecom fixes Tariffs, Keeps Low-Income Bundles Unchanged Days After Safaricom Price Hike

Ethio telecom has announced a tariff adjustment, citing rising capital and operational costs and prevailing macroeconomic pressures, while keeping prices unchanged for widely used and low-income service bundles.

The state-owned operator said the adjustment follows six years of successive tariff reductions aimed at reflecting customers’ purchasing power, alongside sustained investment in telecommunications and digital infrastructure expansion.

Ethio telecom said these efforts have expanded its customer base to more than 86 million nationwide, while telebirr users have surpassed 56 million, contributing to the implementation of the Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy.

The company said the tariff revision is intended to safeguard service continuity and quality, and to support the ongoing expansion of telecom and digital infrastructure across the country.

As part of the adjustment, Ethio telecom said it has introduced measures to preserve customer value. The existing ten percent discount on bundle purchases made through the telebirr Super App has been increased to 20 percent.

Prices for 38 commonly used bundles will remain unchanged, while low-cost packages priced at one birr, two birr, five birr and one-hour bundles, widely used by low-income customers, will continue without change. Special bundles designed for persons with disabilities, students and teachers have also been excluded from the adjustment.

The move comes a week after Safaricom Ethiopia raised prices for most mobile data packages under revised tariffs that took effect on December 23, 2025, with average increases of about 44 percent.

Daily bundles recorded the steepest increases, with per-unit prices rising by between 34 percent and 67 percent as data allowances were reduced, while weekly packages saw per-unit increases of up to 82 percent after smaller, lower-priced options were withdrawn.

Safaricom’s tariff changes came as the group reported improved financial performance, supported by a sharp reduction in losses from its Ethiopian operations.

In the six months ended September 30, 2025, Safaricom Plc posted a net profit of KShs 29.2 billion, up 191.5 percent year on year, as losses in Ethiopia narrowed to KShs 2.6 billion from KShs 21.7 billion a year earlier.

Despite the improvement, Safaricom Ethiopia continues to face high operating costs linked to network rollout, currency depreciation and sustained price competition. The company has previously said prevailing data tariffs in Ethiopia remain below cost, complicating efforts to achieve profitability.

The parallel adjustments reflect intensifying competition in Ethiopia’s telecom market following liberalisation, where Safaricom competes with the state-owned Ethio telecom.

A 2025 World Bank review of the sector found that, while consumer choice has expanded, structural imbalances persist, with Ethio telecom retaining control over key backbone infrastructure and some services priced below regulated mobile termination rates, influencing pricing decisions across the market.