ethioCall Frequently Asked Questions

You download the app, register with your regular mobile number, and activate the welcome plan or a paid plan. Then you select a contact in Ethiopia and call — the connection runs over the internet instead of your regular carrier.

You need a compatible smartphone, your regular mobile number to register with, and a stable internet connection to complete setup. No Ethiopian SIM card or separate number is required to sign up.

No. You register and use ethioCall entirely with your regular mobile number — no Ethiopian SIM card is needed at any point, whether you're calling out or receiving a callback from family.

Yes. ethioCall is available for both Android and iPhone. Download it from the App Store or Google Play, register with your regular mobile number, and you're ready to make your first call.

Yes. New users can activate the welcome plan and get 5 minutes of calling to Ethiopia at no cost, with no top-up required before making that first call.

No. They receive a normal incoming call on their phone, the same as any other call they'd get from anyone else. No app, account, or internet connection is required on their end.

No. The internet connection is needed on your side, to place the call through the app. The person answering in Ethiopia just needs an ordinary phone signal, nothing more than that.

Select a contact in the app and start the call — there's no international format to type in yourself. Learn how to call Ethiopia from the US for the full dialing breakdown, including the standard method.

Ethiopia's country code is +251. Learn how to call Ethiopia from the US  for the full dialing format, including how to handle the leading 0 in a locally written number.

ethioCall offers three plans: Close & Connected ($5.99, 50 minutes, valid 1 day), Talk Deeply ($11.99, 110 minutes, valid 7 days), and Always Together ($23.99, 250 minutes, valid 15 days).

A new user activates the welcome plan directly in the app and gets 5 minutes of calling to Ethiopia, with no payment or top-up needed to use them right away.

No. Only the first 5 minutes, through the welcome plan, are free for new users. After that, calling requires an active paid plan — Close & Connected, Talk Deeply, or Always Together.

No. The welcome plan gives you 5 minutes of calling but not an Ethiopian number of your own. A number of your own is issued only once you activate a paid plan.

Once a plan's validity period ends, its minutes and any Ethiopian number tied to it are no longer active. Renew before expiry if you want to keep the same number and minutes available.

This FAQ can't promise rollover beyond what a plan's stated validity period covers. Minutes are tied to the plan you're on, for exactly the length of time that plan states, no longer.

Auto-renewal isn't described as a feature of ethioCall's plans here. Treat each plan as valid for its stated period, and renew manually if you want to keep calling after it ends.

It's there for two-way voice calling — so you can call Ethiopia, and just as importantly, so family and friends there have a number of yours to call back.

Your Ethiopian number stays active for as long as your paid plan is active. Renew before the plan expires if you want to keep using the same number without interruption.

Yes, on the Ethiopian number issued with your paid plan. See how to receive calls from Ethiopia for the full incoming-call scenario, described from both sides of the call.

No. They dial your Ethiopian number from their own regular phone, mobile or landline, exactly as they would call anyone else in Ethiopia — nothing new to install or set up.

Yes. Incoming calls come through the app over the internet, so you'll need a stable Wi-Fi, 4G, or 5G connection at the exact moment your family in Ethiopia calls.

This FAQ covers ethioCall's voice calling features. It doesn't promise the ability to receive SMS or verification codes on your Ethiopian number — that isn't part of what it's built for.

No. Your Ethiopian number's activity is tied to your paid plan, not held permanently on its own. Keeping the plan active is what keeps the number usable.

Call quality depends mainly on the stability and speed of your internet connection, along with general network and device conditions at the time of the call. None of that can be guaranteed call by call.

ethioCall uses industry-standard security, with data encrypted in transit to protect your calls and account information as they travel over the internet between your device and ethioCall's own servers.

Yes. ethioCall is powered by Ethio telecom, the network your family in Ethiopia is likely already familiar with on their own end of the call, day in and day out.

Call quality depends on the connection on both ends, so it isn't something ethioCall can promise for every single call, regardless of how strong the signal looks at the start.

You can use ethioCall anywhere within its supported countries — the USA, Canada, and South Africa — as long as you have a stable internet connection. Outside those countries, availability isn't guaranteed.

Support is available through the in-app help channel or the ethioCall website, with 24/7 availability if you run into an issue with calls, plans, your Ethiopian number, or your account.

Include your account or registered mobile number, a short description of the issue, your device type, and roughly when the call happened. Don't include passwords or payment details in your message.