Safaricom rolls out services in two Ethiopian cities
Safaricom has expanded its customer pilot to two additional cities – Bahir Dar and Adama in Ethiopia which marks the 4th and 5th cities in the country to test the network. This is following Safaricom’s launch in Ethiopia in August 2022 and after it has rolled out its network in Dire Dawa, Harar and Haramaya in its city-by-city plan.
According to a press release on 12 September, “the customer pilots in Bahir Dar and Adama are 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’s objectives.”
“Our phased city-by-city customer trials are now growing to Central and Northern Ethiopia with more cities to follow, after the network rollout in Eastern Ethiopia over the past couple of weeks. The pilots in Bahir Dar and Adama allow us to continue rigorous service tests in Amhara and Oromia regions, looking forward to our national launch in October 2022 and servicing all of Ethiopia,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Safaricom Ethiopia, Anwar Soussa.
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Customers in Bahir Dar and Adama cities will be able to make international calls, purchase SIM cards and choose their preferred numbers on Safaricom Ethiopia’s 07 prefix which comes with a welcome offer of data, voice and SMS for one month. Whereas, 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.
The two cities will have 6 branded shops that will be open to serve customers; four in Bahir Dar and two in Adama.
Furthermore, 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.