Ethio Telecom, a 99% state-owned enterprise, unveiled a new internet-based television service, teleStream, betting that the future of Ethiopian entertainment will travel through fiber cables rather than satellite dishes.
Announced on Friday at the Science Museum, the platform offers more than 60 live television channels and over 350 video-on-demand titles, delivered through the state-owned operator’s expanding broadband network. Company executives say the service is designed to marry content distribution with infrastructure: teleStream runs on Ethio Telecom’s metro fiber backbone, its telecloud hosting platform, and the telebirr digital payments ecosystem, creating what it describes as an end-to-end local streaming stack.
The timing is not incidental. In its half-year performance report covering July to December 2025, the opening stretch of its “Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028” strategy, Ethio Telecom reported a total customer base of 87.1 million. Of those, 49 million were mobile data users and just under a million were fixed broadband subscribers, the core audience teleStream is expected to court. Smartphone penetration has climbed to 42 percent, widening the pool of customers able to consume digital content beyond traditional television.
For viewers, the proposition is straightforward. Instead of mounting a dish and navigating weather disruptions, users connect through home Wi-Fi or compatible SIM cards. A set-top box priced at 1600 Birr turns a conventional television into a smart device, allowing households without high-end hardware to access streaming services. The company says the system is optimized for high-quality, low-latency delivery for a monthly service fee of 650 Birr.
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