For the first time in over a century of operations, voice calls are no longer Ethio telecom's biggest moneymaker. Mobile data is — and the gap is widening fast.
Ethiopia's state-owned telecommunications operator reported a 33.2% jump in annual revenue to 215.82 billion birr for the fiscal year ended June 2026, with EBITDA surging 51.9% to 38.7 billion birr and operating profit climbing 47.5% to 30 billion birr. The figures were presented Thursday at the Ethiopian Science Museum in Addis Ababa.
Ethio telecom Chief Executive Officer Frehiwot Tamru delivered the 2025/26 annual business performance report, revealing that data and internet services now account for 31.1% of total revenue — comfortably ahead of mobile voice services, which contributed 23.5%. It is a milestone the company describes as a fundamental turning point, given that voice had been its primary revenue driver since its founding.
"The rapid expansion of data services enabled data revenue to surpass voice as the major revenue stream," Frehiwot said during the presentation, describing the development as evidence of both rising customer demand for digital services and Ethio telecom's broader transformation from a traditional telecommunications operator into a technology-focused digital services provider.
90 Million Customers, 51 Million Active Data Users
Ethio telecom closed the fiscal year with 90.12 million total customers, of whom 51.53 million are active mobile data users — a number that puts Ethiopia's digital uptake in sharp relief for a country long associated with low connectivity rates. Fixed broadband subscriptions also crossed the one-million mark for the first time.
The growth did not happen in a vacuum. Frehiwot said the operator deployed 603 new mobile sites during the year, extended 4G coverage to 1,200 towns, and pushed 4G population coverage to 82.23%. Commercial 5G services were expanded to 33 cities. These investments are designed to support smart cities, e-government platforms, digital commerce, and fintech services as Ethiopia pushes forward its Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy.
telebirr Drives Financial Inclusion at Scale
Beyond connectivity, Ethio telecom's mobile money platform telebirr is reshaping how Ethiopians move money. The platform now has 60.6 million registered customers and processed 2.61 billion transactions valued at 4.19 trillion birr over the fiscal year. Integration with 33 banks, microfinance institutions, and savings cooperatives has expanded interoperability significantly across Ethiopia's financial system.
That kind of scale puts telebirr firmly among the continent's most consequential digital financial services platforms — and signals that Ethio telecom is no longer just a carrier but an active infrastructure layer for Ethiopia's broader economy.
Africa's Second-Most Populous Country Goes Digital
The results arrive as Africa's second-most populous nation accelerates its broadband buildout and cloud adoption under Digital Ethiopia 2030. Frehiwot framed the revenue crossover not as a one-off financial result but as proof of a structural shift in how Ethiopians engage with technology — from basic calls to mobile broadband, enterprise services, and digital platforms.
The numbers back that up. A 51.9% EBITDA increase alongside a data-led revenue mix suggests Ethio telecom's business model has genuinely pivoted, not just incrementally shifted. Whether it can sustain that trajectory as competition from Safaricom Ethiopia intensifies will be the real test heading into 2026/27.