Executive leadership at Ethiopia's state-owned Ethio Telecom has vowed to address congestion issues with its network and acknowledged the impact on capacity and quality of service.

Recently appointed CEO Frehiwot Tamiru said, "This has led to a decline in capacity and quality of service which is responsible for considerable consumer dissatisfaction."

Ethio Telecom's communications officer, Abdurahim Ahmed, Ethio Telecom's communications officer, said the operator is at the early stages of the service upgrade and reviewing potential service providers.

"It is still too early to say how much the project will cost and how long it will last," Ahmed said.

The company has also reduced local call rates by 40%, SMS charges by 43% while the cost of broadband internet charges dropped between 30 and 54% (depending the subscription plan).

Tamiru said telecoms prices were last adjusted in 2011 and the high cost was "a major burden" for local subscribers.

"High prices have lowered the standard of living and have been a source of desperation for customers who spend more than five percent of their monthly income on telecommunications services, which, according to international standards is too high."

Ethio Telecom's currently has 62 million mobile phone subscribers and 3 million fixed line users, with estimated mobile phone coverage of 85%.

In June 2018 ITWeb Africa reported that MTN and Vodacom expressed interest in entering the Ethiopian market, Africa's second largest telecom market after Nigeria with a population of 100 million people.