Ethiopian telco Ethio Telecom has announced the final plan for its copper switch-off initiative.

The carrier revealed plans to transfer the remaining 100,000 customers on its copper network over to fiber.

Ethio, Ethiopia's biggest network operator with more than 78 million customers, said 60,000 will switch to fiber in Addis Ababa, the country's capital, plus 40,000 more across regional areas.

"As part of our ongoing efforts to modernize our network and enhance service delivery, we are moving forward with the copper network switch-off," said the carrier this week on LinkedIn.

"This initiative marks a significant shift towards more reliable, high-speed technologies such as fiber optics, LTE, and 5G which will enable us to provide superior service to our customers."

According to Ethio, the first phase of the migration will begin in the first week of next month, involving 31,000 customers.

It's part of a larger plan, Ethio notes, to "fully migrate Addis Ababa's copper network to fiber within three years and to extend this migration to all Regional capital cities over the next five years."

Ethio heralded the migration over to fiber as pivotal for the country's digital future.

The company notably also outlined plans this week to develop a hyperscale data center in the country. Ethio confirmed that it's in strategic talks with Vnet investor Shandong Hi-Speed Group Co. Ltd. about building a facility - but further details haven't been shared.

“Our CEO, Frehiwot Tamru, has engaged in discussions with Shandong Hi-Speed Group Co. Ltd GM, Mr. Cal Kun regarding the construction of a hyperscale data center,” the carrier said.

“Shandong has expressed its willingness to collaborate with Ethio telecom in both the construction and financing of the data center, forming a strategic partnership aimed at advancing Ethiopia’s digital infrastructure.”

Ethio was the only operator in Ethiopia until Kenya-based Safaricom launched in the market two years ago.