Travel Ethiopia eSIM | Ethio Telecom & Safaricom

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Roami is a global eSIM carrier focused on travel connectivity. This guide is compiled from network data, official carrier and manufacturer documentation, and traveler inquiries.

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Ethiopia has exactly two mobile carriers, and choosing between them is easier than in most countries: Ethio Telecom owns the network almost everywhere, and Safaricom Ethiopia is the challenger that matters mainly in Addis Ababa and a growing list of cities. But the honest answer to “which Ethiopia eSIM carrier is best” starts somewhere else entirely — with the fact that Ethiopia is one of the few tourist destinations where the government can and does switch the internet off by region. This guide covers the carrier choice, the registration paperwork, where the coverage actually ends, and how to plan around an internet shutdown, because no other article on Ethiopia eSIMs puts those four things in one place.

Quick answer: Most travellers in Ethiopia will be happiest with a travel eSIM installed before they fly; the local networks make sense for tighter budgets and city-only trips. Confirm your handset on the compatibility checker before anything else — the step most often skipped in Ethiopia.

If you have not yet confirmed that your phone accepts an eSIM profile, run your model through the device compatibility checker first. The rest of this page stays on the Ethiopian carriers themselves.

Quick verdict: Ethio Telecom is the default choice — it has the widest 4G footprint (roughly 70% of the population), 5G live in about two dozen cities led by Addis Ababa, and tourist eSIM access via its app and Bole Airport counters. Safaricom Ethiopia, the 2022 entrant backed by Kenya’s Safaricom and Vodafone, is a genuine second network in Addis and expanding, but its footprint outside the capital is still thin. Buy your eSIM before you fly, keep your home SIM active for calls, and read the shutdown section below before you plan a northern circuit through Amhara — regional internet suspensions are a real, recurring event, not a rumor.

Can I buy directly from Ethio Telecom or Safaricom?

Two companies, two very different answers to the question “can a tourist buy from you?” That difference is the single most useful thing to understand before you spend anything.

Ethiopia carriers: who’s who

Ethio Telecom Safaricom Ethiopia
Ownership State-owned incumbent Private consortium — Safaricom Kenya, Vodafone, Vodacom, Sumitomo
Launch The national operator, spun out of the old monopoly Commercial launch 2022
4G footprint Roughly 70% of the population, all major corridors Addis Ababa plus a growing list of regional cities
5G Live in about two dozen cities, starting with Addis Early rollout, capital-first
eSIM sold directly Yes — app and store, passport registration Limited, store-based, Addis-centric
Best for Basically every itinerary A second line in the capital, or where its signal is stronger

Where to source your Ethiopia eSIM

Ethio Telecom — yes, with paperwork. Ethio Telecom issues eSIM lines through its own channels, including its app and its counters at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and city stores. The catch is universal in Ethiopia: every line is tied to a passport with a photo taken at the point of sale. You will queue, you will hand over your passport, and you will leave with a registered line — usually within an hour at a city store, longer at the airport on a busy arrival bank.

Safaricom Ethiopia — technically, but it is not built for visitors. Safaricom Ethiopia’s stores are concentrated in Addis Ababa and a handful of regional cities. Its tourist-facing eSIM availability is limited, and a visitor landing in Addis at 02:00 has no realistic way to buy one. Treat it as the second network your profile uses, not a place you buy.

Ethiopia head-to-head: local SIM, travel eSIM

Direct from Ethio Telecom or Safaricom Travel eSIM on an Ethiopian network
What you need Passport plus photo registration, in person A compatible, unlocked phone
When you can activate After landing, in a queue Before you fly, on your own Wi-Fi
User interface Amharic-first app, English available Whatever your provider ships
Voice and SMS Yes — a real Ethiopian number Data-only on most plans; keep your home line for calls
Price Low per gigabyte Fixed upfront price
Best for Stays of a month or longer, or work that needs a local number One- to three-week trips, and anyone who wants data on landing

For a normal holiday the travel eSIM wins on time, not only on money. The registration queue at Bole is the exact hour you least want to spend standing still, and the local number you gain is rarely useful — Ethiopian hotels, drivers and tour operators all coordinate over WhatsApp, which a data-only line handles perfectly.

💡 A multi-network Ethiopia eSIM is the practical middle path — compare plans before you fly: instant delivery, no registration queue, and automatic switching between Ethio Telecom and Safaricom Ethiopia as you move.

Which carrier fits my Ethiopia itinerary?

Your trip Best carrier Why
Historic north (Addis, Bahir Dar, Lalibela, Gondar) Ethio Telecom The only network with meaningful coverage through the northern highlands
Addis Ababa business stay Either — Ethio Telecom for coverage, Safaricom for a second line Both networks are strong in the capital; Safaricom Ethiopia is often less congested
Southern route (Hawassa, Arba Minch, Omo Valley) Ethio Telecom 4G follows the main towns; Safaricom Ethiopia’s reach thins fast outside cities
Danakil Depression or Simien backcountry None — plan offline These are no-signal zones on every Ethiopian network
Month-long stay with local calls Ethio Telecom direct The only realistic route to a registered Ethiopian number
Arriving at Bole at night Travel eSIM Nothing is open and nothing is fast at 02:00

One profile, two networks: a multi-network Ethiopia eSIM re-selects the stronger carrier as you move, which matters most on the Addis–Bahir Dar corridor where the two footprints overlap unevenly.

What separates Ethio Telecom from Safaricom?

Ethio Telecom: the incumbent with the widest coverage

Ethio Telecom is state-owned, and for most of the country it is not just the best network — it is the only network. Independent measurement puts its 4G footprint at roughly 70% of the population, concentrated along the Addis–Djibouti corridor, the northern historic circuit and the southern lakes route. 5G has gone live in a steadily expanding list of cities — about two dozen by 2025, starting with Addis Ababa — but treat 5G as a capital-city perk, not a travel promise. Outside the cities, expect 3G or 2G, and in the lowlands and national parks, expect nothing at all.

The regulator is the Ethiopian Communications Authority, created by the 2019 Communications Service Proclamation — it is the body that licenses Safaricom Ethiopia and that sits behind the shutdown orders discussed below.

Registration is mandatory. Every SIM and eSIM line in Ethiopia is tied to a passport with a photo taken at the point of registration. A travel eSIM you install at home skips the counter because the provider handles compliance in bulk — that is the practical difference between an Ethiopia eSIM bought online and a local line bought at Bole Airport.

Top-ups are local-only in practice. Topping up an Ethio Telecom line means telebirr, the operator’s mobile-money wallet, or a scratch card from a shop. Both assume a local setup. If you buy a carrier line, buy the data you need at the start rather than planning to top up mid-trip.

Safaricom Ethiopia: why the Kenyan name confuses people

Safaricom Ethiopia launched service in 2022 as a consortium of Kenya’s Safaricom, Vodafone, Vodacom and Japan’s Sumitomo. It is a separately licensed Ethiopian company — your Kenyan Safaricom line does not roam onto it, and its towers are its own. It claims a fast-growing customer base of around 10 million and shares some 1,300 towers with Ethio Telecom under an infrastructure-sharing agreement, but its coverage outside Addis Ababa and a handful of regional cities remains the weakest part of its offer.

Two details worth knowing:

  • It is not a roaming partner of Safaricom Kenya. Same brand, different licence, different registration, no automatic handover between them.

  • M-Pesa came with it. Safaricom Ethiopia has been building a mobile-money business of its own, which is one more reason the network is growing in the capital and one more reason visitors cannot use it — the wallet needs a registered Ethiopian line.

For a traveler the realistic read is: Safaricom Ethiopia is a reason the capital has two healthy networks, not a reason to route your itinerary. If your eSIM profile can attach to either network, you get the best of both without deciding in advance.

Regional internet shutdowns in Ethiopia

This is the fact that should shape your plan more than any speed test. Ethiopia has a long, documented history of regionally scoped internet shutoffs — around 30 between 2016 and 2024 by one count. Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net reporting records the Amhara region shutdown that lasted roughly a year before being lifted in July 2024, and localized suspensions in Oromia within its coverage period. Shutdown orders are typically tied to security operations and they cut every carrier at once — no eSIM, no SIM, no brand, no price tier protects you.

What an internet shutdown means for travelers

Worth being precise, because “internet shutdown” sounds more dramatic than it usually feels:

  • It is regional, not national. Addis Ababa has generally stayed connected while specific zones go dark.

  • It is selective. Mobile data dies first; voice and SMS have historically kept working more often than not.

  • It is indefinite. These are not maintenance windows. The Amhara suspension ran about a year.

  • Hotel Wi-Fi is not a workaround. Fixed lines are affected by the same orders, and a satellite link is the only true bypass.

The practical playbook: download offline maps for every leg before you travel, keep bookings and tickets as screenshots rather than relying on email, and if you are heading into Amhara or Oromia, check current conditions shortly before departure rather than assuming last month’s status still holds. Assume any given region could go dark for the duration of your visit, and build your itinerary so that a dark stretch is an inconvenience rather than a crisis.

Why is every Ethiopian SIM tied to my passport?

Ethiopia is one of the more tightly registered markets in Africa, and three rules matter to a visitor:

Rule What it means for you
Passport-linked registration Every locally issued SIM or eSIM needs a passport and an in-person photo at the point of sale
No unregistered activation A line simply will not provision without that registration step
Local top-up rails Recharging a local line runs through telebirr or scratch cards, both of which assume a local setup

Two practical consequences. First, buying a local line is a project, not an errand — budget an hour and your passport. Second, this is exactly the gap a travel eSIM fills: the compliance work is done by the provider in bulk before your profile is ever issued, so there is nothing to register at the counter and nothing to top up through a local wallet.

The regulator itself, the Ethiopian Communications Authority, publishes the market’s service rules — useful reading if you want the primary source rather than a blog summary.

How fast will my data actually be in Ethiopia?

Ethiopia sits near the bottom of global speed tables, and a guide that quotes 5G figures as if they applied to a road trip through the highlands is misleading you. Three reference points worth bookmarking:

  • The Ookla Speedtest Global Index tracks the country’s median mobile and fixed speeds monthly; both are low by global standards, with fixed broadband medians around 9–12 Mbps in recent editions.

  • Cable.co.uk’s worldwide pricing survey prices 1 GB of local mobile data at roughly USD 0.43–0.68 — among the cheapest markets it tracks — which is why a local-rate eSIM beats roaming on price as well as coverage.

  • DataReportal’s Digital 2025: Ethiopia counts 85.4 million mobile connections against 28.6 million internet users — the gap between the two is the clearest single statistic about what the networks actually deliver.

That last pair of numbers is worth sitting with. Ethiopia has mobile subscriptions approaching the size of its population, but the share of people actually using the internet is a fraction of that — a sign that handsets and SIMs are widespread while affordable data, coverage and device capability are not. It is also why your experience as a visitor with a modern phone and a prepaid data plan will feel noticeably better than the national average suggests, right up until you leave the corridor.

What this means route by route:

Route What to expect Watch out for
Addis Ababa Best connectivity in the country; 5G in central districts Congestion at peak hours; speeds swing through the day
Addis–Bahir Dar–Gondar (historic north) Usable 4G in towns, 3G between them Amhara has been the epicenter of past shutdowns
Lalibela and the highlands 4G in town, thin on the approach roads Highland terrain blocks signal on side routes
Bahir Dar and Lake Tana Good in the city, patchy on the lake shore —
Hawassa, Arba Minch, the south 4G along the main road, gaps between towns Long silent stretches on minor roads
Simien Mountains trek Signal at the trailhead and in lodges, nothing on the plateau Download maps; carry a power bank
Danakil Depression Effectively none A satellite messenger, not an eSIM, is the right tool
Omo Valley Patchy town-by-town coverage Check regional status before you go

💡 An Ethiopia eSIM that can switch between Ethio Telecom and Safaricom Ethiopia covers the gaps any single-carrier line cannot — that is the core argument for a multi-network profile in Ethiopia.

Three ways to get an Ethiopia eSIM

Route Paperwork Time cost Best for
Travel eSIM bought online before you fly None — install on Wi-Fi, enable data roaming on landing Five minutes, at home Nearly every visitor
Ethio Telecom counter at Bole Airport or city store Passport registration with photo 30–90 minutes in a queue Long stays, or anyone who needs a local number
Safaricom Ethiopia store Passport registration Similar, and only in Addis and a few cities Residents and long-term visitors

Route 1 — a travel eSIM installed at home

  1. Confirm your phone is eSIM-capable and unlocked using the eSIM compatibility tool.

  2. Buy the plan and install the profile over Wi-Fi at home — not at the airport.

  3. Label the line (for example “Ethiopia data”) so you do not confuse it with your home SIM.

  4. Set the eSIM as your mobile-data line, and enable data roaming on it — travel eSIMs roam onto the local network by design, so yes, the toggle needs to be on.

  5. Land, unlock the phone, and the profile attaches to Ethio Telecom or Safaricom Ethiopia automatically.

Route 2 — Ethio Telecom at Bole Airport or a city store

  1. Bring your passport — registration is non-negotiable and includes a photo.

  2. Choose the data bundle at the counter; prices are low, but the queues at arrival banks are real.

  3. Test the line before leaving the counter: browse a page, send a message.

  4. If you plan to top up later, understand now that it runs through telebirr or scratch cards.

Route 3 — Safaricom Ethiopia store

  1. Expect to do this in Addis Ababa; regional store coverage is thin.

  2. Bring your passport for registration.

  3. Weigh the time against what you gain — a second network in the capital, and a local number.

The third route has a catch worth knowing: a locally bought line needs in-person biometric registration, and Safaricom Ethiopia’s store footprint outside the capital is limited. For a two-week trip, the travel-eSIM route wins on every axis except having an Ethiopian phone number — and since hotels, drivers and tour operators in Ethiopia coordinate over WhatsApp regardless, a data-only line covers nearly everything.

Before you buy, have ready:

  • An unlocked, eSIM-capable phone — check it against the compatibility list if you are not sure

  • The eSIM installed before you fly: land, enable data roaming, and the profile attaches to a local network

  • Your passport photocopied or photographed, in case you end up buying a local line as a backup

  • A power bank — power cuts outside Addis are routine, and a phone with no charge has perfect coverage of nothing

  • Offline maps for every leg, downloaded while you still have fast Wi-Fi at home

Will my phone work with an Ethiopian eSIM?

Three things decide whether your phone will work on an Ethiopian network — and remarkably, none of them is a band problem.

Ethiopia eSIM bands: why compatibility is rarely the issue

Ethiopian 4G runs on widely adopted frequencies that essentially every modern international handset supports, and 5G in central Addis uses standard mid-band spectrum. Unlike Canada, where the rural 600 MHz band catches international phones out, you do not need to study a band table for Ethiopia. If your phone makes calls and does data on 4G at home, it will do the same in Addis.

Do older phones take Ethiopia eSIMs?

Device situation Symptom What to do
Mainland-China iPhone models No “Add eSIM” option at all — the hardware is disabled in that market Not fixable; use a physical SIM or a different device
Carrier-locked phone (common on contract handsets) eSIM fails to install, or installs with no service Ask the carrier it is locked to for an unlock before you fly
Carrier-purchased Samsung eSIM option greyed out in settings Unlock first, then reboot and retry
Dual-SIM user eSIM installed but no data Nominate the eSIM as the data line
Older handset without eSIM No EID in *#06# Use a travel physical SIM, or plan on a local line

How do I check my phone for eSIM support?

  • Dial *#06#. If an EID appears, your phone has eSIM hardware. If not, it does not.

  • iPhone: Settings → General → About → Carrier Lock. “No SIM restrictions” means you are clear.

  • Android: SIM Manager sits under Settings -> Connections. If eSIM is greyed out, it is locked or unsupported.

Run your exact model — model number, not marketing name — through the phone compatibility list before you buy anything.

APN settings for Ethiopia eSIM profiles

Most travel eSIM profiles carry their own APN and need nothing typed in. If you bought your Ethiopia eSIM directly from a carrier and data fails, these are the values:

Carrier APN Username Password
Ethio Telecom internet blank blank
Safaricom Ethiopia safaricom blank blank

When do you need to set an Ethiopia APN manually?

  • You bought a carrier-issued line rather than a managed travel eSIM

  • An older handset that did not pick up carrier settings automatically

  • A profile installed from a manual activation code instead of a QR scan

  • You changed networks after a shutdown lifted and the profile did not re-register cleanly

When Ethiopia APNs don’t arrive automatically

  • iPhone: Settings → Cellular → tap the eSIM line → Cellular Data Network

  • Android: Settings → Network & Internet → Mobile network → Access Point Names

Restart after saving, and confirm the Ethiopian profile — not your home SIM — is the selected data line before you touch anything else, because a shutdown or a stale registration looks identical to a wrong APN until you have ruled the data line out.

How to activate an Ethiopia eSIM

The generic install — scan the QR code on Wi-Fi at home, label the line, set it as your data line, enable data roaming — is covered step by step in our eSIM activation guide.

Ethiopia eSIM activation checklist

# Check What “good” looks like
1 Phone not carrier-locked Settings → General → About → Carrier Lock reads “No SIM restrictions”
2 Phone supports eSIM An EID appears when you dial *#06#
3 QR code and activation code saved Screenshot on the phone and in cloud storage
4 Profile installed before departure Install on home Wi-Fi, so it connects the moment you land
5 Data line and roaming set eSIM selected for mobile data, data roaming toggled on
6 Shutdown fallback ready Offline maps plus screenshots of bookings saved to the phone

Walkthrough: activating an Ethiopia eSIM

  1. Install before departure. Airport counters at Bole exist, but queues and registration paperwork eat arrival time; a pre-installed profile just needs data roaming switched on.

  2. Manually select the network if the profile does not attach. Settings → Cellular → Network Selection → pick Ethio Telecom (or the carrier your plan specifies) instead of leaving it on automatic.

  3. Do not expect SMS on a data-only plan. Two-factor codes for your bank or airline will not arrive on the eSIM. Keep your home number active in the physical slot for those.

  4. If the profile installs but nothing connects, the cause is almost always the data line setting or the roaming toggle — the full symptom-by-symptom walkthrough is in our activation troubleshooting guide.

  5. If everything is configured correctly but the internet is still dead, check whether the region you are in is under a shutdown order — that is a network event, not a phone problem.

When the Ethiopia eSIM stalls: four fixes

A. The eSIM will not install

  1. Settings -> General -> About holds the Carrier Lock field; it should say “No SIM restrictions”

  2. The QR must be unscanned – codes nearly always work once only

  3. Ask the provider if the profile is still waiting to be released

B. Installed, but no signal bars

  1. Toggle the eSIM line off and on in the SIM manager

  2. Settings → Cellular → Network Selection → choose Ethio Telecom manually

  3. Reboot first; keep the network reset in reserve

C. Signal bars, but no internet

  1. Check your APN against the table before continuing

  2. Make sure mobile data is pointed at the eSIM line rather than your home SIM

  3. Turn data roaming on for this specific line — off is the single most common cause

  4. Check your allowance has not run out

D. Data and voice both dead, across every app

  1. Reboot once, then check the network selection

  2. Ask a local: shutdowns are common knowledge on the ground long before they make the news

  3. If it is a suspension, there is nothing to fix — move to your offline plan and wait it out

What to prepare before contacting support

Information Where to find it
Order number Confirmation email
Phone model and OS version Settings → About
EID Dial *#06#
Screenshot of the error Take it before the screen changes
Current APN settings Settings → Cellular Data Network
Data roaming status Settings → Cellular → your eSIM line
Region you are currently in Matters in Ethiopia — shutdowns are geographic

Ethiopia carrier eSIM FAQ

Can you buy an Ethiopia eSIM from Ethio Telecom?

Yes — Ethio Telecom sells eSIM lines and has counters at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and its city stores, with passport registration on the spot. For a short visit, though, an Ethiopia eSIM bought before you fly is faster: no queue, no biometric registration, data live the moment you land.

Does Safaricom Ethiopia sell eSIMs to visitors?

Safaricom Ethiopia serves customers through its stores, concentrated in Addis Ababa, and its tourist-facing eSIM availability is limited. Treat it as the second network behind your profile rather than a purchase destination — a multi-network eSIM gets you onto it automatically where its signal is strongest.

Will my Kenya Safaricom SIM work in Ethiopia?

No. Safaricom Ethiopia is a separate licensed company from Safaricom Kenya — different network, different registration, no automatic roaming between them. If your East Africa itinerary includes both countries, plan a separate Ethiopian profile; our Kenya eSIM carrier guide covers the Kenyan side.

Is passport registration mandatory for an Ethiopia SIM?

If you buy from a local carrier, yes — passport and photo at registration are mandatory, and there is no way around it at the counter. Travel eSIMs you install yourself are already compliant through the provider, which is exactly why they are the low-friction route for visitors.

How fast are Ethiopia’s networks?

Median speeds are among the slowest measured globally — the Ookla Speedtest Global Index has tracked Ethiopian fixed medians near 9–12 Mbps in recent editions, and mobile runs in the same league outside central Addis. HD video calls work in the capital; they are not a given in Gondar, and they are not happening in the remote lowland regions.

Is 5G available in Ethiopia?

In central Addis Ababa and a couple dozen other cities, yes — Ethio Telecom has been expanding 5G since 2022 and Safaricom Ethiopia is rolling it out in the capital. Everywhere else, plan around 4G, 3G and honest gaps. Any article promising 150 Mbps at Lalibela is describing a speed test in Addis, not your trip.

Why did my data stop while calls still work?

First rule out your own device: data line, roaming toggle, network selection, then the troubleshooting guide. If your setup is clean and data is dead across apps while voice still works, you may be in a regional suspension. They are imposed by the government, hit every carrier at once, and lift on the authorities’ schedule — keep offline maps and screenshots of bookings so a shutdown is an inconvenience rather than a crisis.

Does an internet shutdown affect travel eSIMs too?

Yes, and this is the part most guides get wrong. A shutdown is imposed on the mobile network itself, so an eSIM roaming onto Ethio Telecom is cut off exactly like a local line. No provider can route around it, and any that claims otherwise is describing something else. The only genuine bypass is a satellite connection, which is why offline preparation matters more in Ethiopia than almost anywhere.

Sizing a data plan for Ethiopia

Maps, messaging, social and video calls: 5–10 GB covers it comfortably if you lean on hotel Wi-Fi for uploads. Ethiopia’s local data is cheap by global standards — Cable.co.uk prices 1 GB at well under a dollar — but bandwidth, not price, is the constraint, so there is little point buying huge allowances you cannot physically use.

Can I share my Ethiopia eSIM with a laptop?

Check your plan: many travel eSIMs allow hotspot tethering, some restrict it. Where it matters is in Ethiopia more than most places, because hotel Wi-Fi is often slower than your mobile connection in the cities — a tethered laptop can genuinely be the faster option in Addis.

Can I get an Ethiopian phone number on an eSIM?

No. Data-only profiles carry no voice number, so calls and SMS codes need your home line. If you specifically need an Ethiopian number — for a local bank account, a long stay, or a business contact — buy from Ethio Telecom directly and accept the registration process.

Can your home SIM stay in the phone in Ethiopia?

Yes, in the physical slot. Keep it enabled for incoming calls and verification codes, but switch data roaming off on that line so background traffic does not trigger roaming charges. Point mobile data at the eSIM and leave the home line for voice.

Is there anything Ethiopia-specific I should pack?

A power bank, and more patience than usual. Power cuts outside Addis are routine, hotel Wi-Fi is variable, and the one thing you cannot buy your way out of is a regional shutdown — which is why a downloaded copy of your maps, bookings and tickets is the most valuable thing on your phone.

The cheapest plans in Ethiopia

For a short trip, a local-rate travel eSIM — no registration queue, no airport counter, no topping up through a local wallet. For a stay measured in months, an Ethio Telecom line bought once and topped up locally will beat it on cost.

More questions? View the full FAQ →

Ethiopia eSIM sources we checked

All figures are independent third-party measurements. In Ethiopia, power, terrain, congestion and shutdown orders will shape your trip more than any national average does.

Install an Ethiopia eSIM before you land in Addis

Install the profile on home Wi-Fi, switch on data roaming, and step off the plane at Bole already online — your physical slot stays free for calls and verification codes. Start with a free trial card, then browse plans and check Ethiopia coverage. Heading onward in the region? Our Kenya eSIM carrier guide covers the next network you will meet.

Compare Ethiopia eSIM plans · Claim the free trial · Ethiopia eSIM page

The practical play: test first with Roami’s sample eSIM — it uses the same infrastructure as the local networks — then lock in a paid Roami plan with code WEB20 for 20% off if Ethiopia becomes a regular destination.

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