The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) signed a 650,000 subscriber line capacity mobile network expansion project contract with Sweden-based Ericsson Company and Finland-based Nokia Company on 18th January 2005 at the corporation's head Office.

The contract agreement was signed by Ato Tesfaye Birru, ETC's Chief Executive    Officer on the corporation's side and by Mr.Jan Moen, Ericsson Sales Manager for Middle East & Africa on the Company's side.

Ericsson and Nokia companies are the winners among seven bidders participated in the auction of the project contract. The mobile network expansion project which would be undertaken by Ericsson  company would cost an outlay of  Birr 427,317,022.4  (four    hundred twenty seven million three hundred seventeen thousand twenty two and forty cents) or 47,380,843 US Dollar, will serve about 425,000 customers, out of which 250,000 will be for subscribers in Addis Ababa within four months period, while the rest 175,000 will be for those customers found in regional towns within the coming six months . In    addition to Addis Ababa the  service coverage of this project would comprise such regional towns as Axum- Rama, Axum-Abiadi, Axum-Adi Arkay, Gonder-Chew Ber, Gonder-Humara, Jijiga-Gode-Kelafo, Nazareth-Assela-Goba, Arbaminch-Sawla, Arbaminch-Jinka, Debremarkos-Dejen-Adet, Debremarkos-Bure-Bumbadi, Debremarkos-Bure-Nekempti. 

In the mean time, ETC signed on the same date a 200,000 subscriber line capacity mobile network expansion project contract with Mr.Lucas Kranck, Nokia company's Country Manager in Ethiopia and  the service coverage of this project would comprise Awash- Mille-Djibouti and Dessie-Mille-Djbouti in addition to the mobile subscribers in Addis Ababa.

This mobile network expansion project to be undertaken by the Nokia Company costs an outlay of Birr 268,535,473.5 (Two hundred sixty eight million five hundred thirty five thousand four hundred seventy three and fifty cents) or 23,195,000 Euro and its overall completion time will be six months out of which four months will be for a project in Addis Ababa, while two months will be for a project in regional towns.