Nairobi — Safaricom has expanded its network coverage in Ethiopia, with a recent large-scale customer pilot in Awoday and Gondar cities.

The two cities bring the number of cities the telco has carried out pilot tests to ten, joining Dire Dawa, Hara, Haramaya, Bahir Dar, Adama, Bishoftu, Mojo and Debre Birhan.

The pilot in Awoday and Gondar is part of Safaricom's city-by-city regional network roll-out as it intends to switch its network and services in 25 cities in Ethiopia by April 2023 even as it gears toward the national launch in October.

"The pilots in Awoday and Gondar signal the arrival of our National Launch in October 2022 as these are the last cities before the big event," said Anwar Soussa, Chief Executive Officer, Safaricom Ethiopia.

He further appreciated the Ethiopian government, the mayors of Awoday and Gondar cities, the Ethiopian Communications Authority, and all the stakeholders involved for supporting the test network in the two cities.

The test network in Awoday and Gondar cities will enable subscribers to use data services, make calls and send SMS to Safaricom Ethiopia and Ethio Telecom customers and international calls worldwide.

Moreover, new customers will be able to actively register on the network, purchase airtime vouchers and devices as well as access dedicated customer support at the branded shops as well as all branded souks in the cities.

Customers in Awoday and Gondar cities will have an opportunity to choose their preferred numbers on Safaricom Ethiopia 07 prefix on the purchase of SIM cards which comes with a welcome offer of data, voice and SMS for one month.

In addition to that, they will have an option of accessing customer care services from the call centre in Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Af-Somali, Tigrigna or English by dialing 700 to talk to the customer experience agents.