Ethiopia launches online mobile airtime recharging

23 Novembre 2017

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, November 23 (Infosplusgabon) - Mobile customers in Ethiopia can now recharge their airtime online after the country’s sole telecommunication provider, Ethio Telecom, announced the launch of prepaid mobile recharging.

The new system has been made available to customers across the telecom’s 214 service centres, while the existing manual payment system will remain functional, IT News Africa reported on Thursday..

According to Abdurahim Ahmed, corporate communications manager of Ethio Telecom, the electronic payment system is expected to alleviate the shortage of scratch card vouchers and reduce forex costs for their procurement,

“The new system helps to address shortage of recharge cards as well as to reduce foreign exchange spent to print cards abroad,” said Ahemd.

Mobile customers have so far been using manual recharging system. They recharge their mobile phone by scratching the hidden numbers on 5, 10, 25 and 100 birr recharge cards.

Ahmed said the manual system will continue side by side with the electronic one. The new service will be accessible in around 3,000 of the telecom’s service distributors in a few months.

The state-owned Ethio Telecom, which operates in one of Africa’s few non-liberalised telecom markets, has 58 million mobile subscribers.

In September 2017, company launched a system that prohibited individuals from getting more than five SIM cards under their name in a bid to prevent theft and crimes in the telecom industry.

Ahmed further said that as part of the efforts to prevent crimes, the company uses only its shops and legal agents to sell SIM cards through electronics payment system.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/ILK/ GABON 2017

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