Tech in Africa
Ethio-Telecom, Ethiopia’s giant telecom operator is working aggressively to capture the country’s mobile market share with the rollout of ‘Tele Birr’ a mobile money service in 2 months.
Tele Birr, an innovative mobile money solution from Ethio-telecom, will allow customers to send, receive, store, transfer, and spend their money through electronic mobile phone accounts. Tele birr also helps in paying bills such as school fees, utility, DSTV, and others. Users also get the opportunity to cash out SMS, buy prepaid airtime, voice, data bundles, while customers can pay direct connect accounts with other Ethio Telecom subscribers.
Customers then receive money from the diaspora, access loans, save and link their bank accounts to Tele Birr wallets which feature a manager TeleBirr account. Payments via mobile devices will be eased, adding to credit cards, cash, and cheques.
Application process
Ethio-Telecom began the process a year ago after making a proposal to Ethiopia’s National Bank that approved its application to venture into digital financial services. Upon getting consent, Ethio’s telecom management decided to choose a platform and organize a suitable project office.
How to register
Registration for Tele Birr requires the customer to visit a TeleBirr agent outlet and present an Ethio telecom SIM card alongside valid personal documentation.
Launch of 4G LTE
On April 15, the company launched 4G LTE Services covering the South-South West Region – over 641 sites. Among the towns covered were Wolkite, Wolaita Sodo, Jinka, Hosana, Arba Minch, and Butajira. The rollout looks to benefit over 610,000 customers from the region.
Source article first appeared on Capitalethiopia
