Nairobi — Safaricom Ethiopia has expanded its large-scale customer pilot of its network in Ethiopia switching on its network and services in the Harari region.

This announcement comes two days after the operator announced the roll-out of the customer pilot in Dire Dawa City.

The move is part of the firm's phased city-by-city regional network roll-out and rigorous service tests building towards the national launch in October.

"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. 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.

Safaricom targets to have its network and services in 25 cities in Ethiopia by April 2023, working in partnership with the government, businesses, local communities, and other stakeholders.

Customers in Dire Dawa and Harari 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.

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, two shops in Arategna, and Sellassic 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 dialing 700 to speak to the customer experience agents.