The state-owned telecom operator, Ethio-Telecom, introduced embedded SIM (eSIM) service provisioning as a premium service.
Ethio Telcom announced that anyone can subscribe to the eSIM by having mobile devices that support the service by visiting its premium business center, near Churchill Avenue in Addis Ababa.
Smartphones that support the service are enlisted on the operator’s website.
The eSIM has emerged as an advancement to replace the need for a physical SIM card. The range of devices using eSIM is few so far with Apple announcing its iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro will be making the jump to eSIM-only.
In the eSIM service, no physical SIM cards are involved and no physical swapping over is required by the user. It is basically a tiny chip inside the phone. The information on eSIM is writable.
With smartphones, eSIMs are believed to give users more flexibility in managing service plans. A fully enabled eSIM device lets the user add a second plan, switch providers with the touch of a button, and enables corporate device managers to change the service plans on thousands of lines, remotely, at once.
According to PC Mag, “the original drive toward eSIM came in part from the "Internet of Things" industry (Opens in a new window). Being tiny, and not requiring extra room for a slot, where size is of the essence, eSIMs can also be soldered into industrial equipment where a SIM card may not be easily accessible. Being reprogrammable from a distance means eSIMs can be managed in bulk.”
Ethio-Telecom was solely owned by the government for ages until the first private operator license is granted to Safaricom Ethiopia which started operation three weeks ago.
Since the allowance of Safaricom in the industry, Ethio Telecom came up with remarkable new modern services in a short time such as introducing the 5G network, enhancement of its mobile money services and now launching eSIM.
Asked about the company’s preparedness for the competition from the private operator during Ethio Telecom’s annual report session, Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO of Ethio Telecom said, “Ethio telecom does not have a special preparedness for the competition with the new service provider. We aim to build a telecom provider with a range of services and make it a national revenue generator and participate in cross-border works.”
