Ethio Telecom revenues up 20%; financial subscribers grow

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's state-owned telecoms company Ethio Telecom said on Thursday that its half-year revenues rose 20% to 33.8 billion birr ($632.99 million).

Subscribers to Ethio Telecom's mobile phone-based financial service, known as Telebirr, launched in May 2021, have grown to 27.2 million out of its 70 million total subscribers, CEO Frehiwot Tamiru told a news conference.

Ethio Telecom is facing competition from Safaricom Ethiopia, which launched commercial mobile network services in October and now covers at least 21 cities across the country.

($1 = 53.3974 birr)

(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alexander Winning)