WOLAITA SODO UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF ACOUNTING AND FINANCE

ASSESSING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE ADOPTION OF TELL

BIRR: A CASE OF ETHIO TELECOMMUNICATION CORPORATION SOUTH,
SOUTH DISTRICTS WOLAITA SODO.

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED OF THE REQUIREMENT BACHELOR OF

ARTS DEGREE IN ACCOUNTING AND FINANACE.

BY

NAME; GEBRE BELETE

ID; - ACC/WE/172/12

ADVISOR; -Mr. NEGALIGN N (MSC)

APRIL, 2024

WOLAITA SODO, ETHIOPIA

 ABSTRACT
Despite the growth of Tell-birr adoption worldwide, Telecommunication continue to conduct
most of their banking transactions using traditional methods. The objective of this study to
examine adoption of Tell-birr in the Ethio telecommunication with respect to the challenges
which can influence firms from taking advantage of Tell- birr and expected opportunity
derived by adopting the system. To acquire the intended information the researcher use
different data collection instruments like distributing questionnaire, conducting interview.
The questionnaire types are both open-ended and close-ended. The study was conducted
based on the data gathered from the selected districts of telecommunication. The collected
data was analysed by using descriptive analysis such as tables and percentages.

Key word; - Adoption, Tell-birr, challenges and opportunities and Telecommunication.

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 Table of Contents
ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................................i
CHAPTER ONE........................................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................1
1.1. Background of the study.............................................................................................................1
1.2. Statement of problem................................................................................................................2
1.3 Research Questions.....................................................................................................................4
1.4 Objective of the Study.................................................................................................................4
1.4.1General objective.................................................................................................................4
1.4.2 Specific objectives...............................................................................................................4
1.5 Significance of the Study..............................................................................................................4
1.6 Scope of the Study.......................................................................................................................5
1.7 Limitation of the study.................................................................................................................5
1.8 Operational definitions................................................................................................................5
1.9. Organization of the study...........................................................................................................5
CHAPTER TWO.......................................................................................................................................7
2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE.....................................................................................................7
2.1. Theoretical review......................................................................................................................7
2.1.1. Mobile money definition.....................................................................................................7
2.1.2. The adoption of telebirr I.........................................................................................................7
2.1.3. Mobile money development: Global and African trend......................................................7
2.1.4. Mobile money service in Ethiopia........................................................................................8
2.1.5. Technology adoption models and theories..........................................................................9
2.2. Empirical review.......................................................................................................................11
2.3. Research Gap............................................................................................................................17
CHAPTER THREE..................................................................................................................................19
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................19
3.1. Research Design........................................................................................................................19
3.2. Target Population.....................................................................................................................19
3.3. Sampling Frame............................................................................................................................20
3.4. Sample and Sampling Techniques.............................................................................................20
3.5. Research Approach............................................................................................................20
3.6. Source of data.....................................................................................................................21
3.6.1. Primary Data..............................................................................................................21

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 3.6.2. Secondary Data..........................................................................................................21
3.7. Data Collection Method.....................................................................................................21
3.8. Data Collection Procedures...............................................................................................22
3.9 Data analysis..............................................................................................................................22
References...........................................................................................................................................22

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 CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction
1.1. Background of the study
Telecommunications also known as telecom is the exchange of information all over
significant distances by electronic means and refers to various types of telecom services
which facilitate business. These include all types of mobile telecom services including voice
and non-voice messages, data services, cellular Mobile Services, mobile money, and utilizing
any type of network equipment within their service area. The use of mobile money transfer is
a rapidly growing industry that has significantly influenced financial transactions all over the
world. Today, mobile money services are available throughout much of the developing
world. With an increasingly, widespread use of mobile phones by consumers in the emerging
markets, mobile money transfer is not just a fad but a great phenomenon. The introduction of
prepaid cards and the fallen prices of mobile handsets have increasing to a rapid spread of
mobile phones in the emerging economies Orozco et al. (2007).

This has opened up diverse opportunities for it to be used over and above voice
communication. At the center of this experience which comes from the convergence of
advanced mobile communication technologies and the ability to use it for data services is
mobile money transfer. There are currently over 2 billion mobile phone users and thus
exceeding the number of banked people in the Emerging Economies Hughes and Lonie,
(2007).

The mobile money transfer (MMT) service is an aspect of a broader concept emerging in the
electronic payment and banking industry referred to as Mobile Money. Mobile money has
said to include all the various initiatives (long-distance remittance, micro-payments, and
informal air-time battering schemes) aimed at bringing financial services to the unbanked
using mobile technology. Mobile Network Operators (MNO) in most emerging economies is
at different stages of MMT implementations. Notably among the emerging economies are
Philippines, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and most recently Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda.
Whilst Safaricom’s M-pesa has been hugely successful in Kenya, the adoption of similar
implementations in Philippines, South Africa and Ghana have not enjoyed similar success
Jenkins, (2008).

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According to Ayiesa N. Ohese (2018) shows Mobile Money services have revolutionized the
way purchases of products and services are done owing to its security, reliability, and ease of
use, affordability, convenience, speed, accessibility and availability.

As the second highest populous nation in Africa, Ethiopia has the lowest financial inclusion
rate (banked population) as compared to Sub-Saharan African Countries and yet having
alarmingly increasing mobile penetration rate which can be used as a tool for financial
inclusion. After the National Bank of Ethiopia recently finalized a draft order on how mobile
banking services should be structured, different banks and financial institutions are showing
interest in starting mobile banking services. M-Birr, CBE-Birr and ICT service empowers one
of the leading mobile money service M-Birr which enables different micro financial
institutions in Ethiopia to provide mobile money services to their customers officially starting
from September 2015.

Tele birr system will check the request content and return a validation result message to the
IMT provider. If the recipient cannot accept the transfer, the IMT transaction will be
suspended. After receiving the validation success message from the tele-birr system, the IMT
provider will initiate a transfer request. The tele-birr system will execute the transaction and
return the transaction status to the IMT provider (Strategic Themes Bridge 2021-2024).
Therefore; the current study will insights on the adoption of Tele-birr in ethio- telecom; a
cases of south-south region Wolaita Sodo district.

In addition to this the infrastructure area left for installing tell birr and telecommunication
equipment’s and devices is not enough which in turn is creating additional problems like
extending power lines over buildings because of not having enough space, collision of
vehicles with electric or telecommunication poles ,electric transformers and communication
switching devices So this study is expected to investigate the existing problems and
opportunities using appropriate techniques and provide comprehensive strategic solution to
the existing problems.

1.2. Statement of problem

The advent of tell birr telecommunications enables developing nations to resolve the major
constraints to economic growth. Tell birr can give economic benefits to consumers as well as
businesses in developing nations. First, mobile phones can improve market efficiency by
boosting information access and lowering search costs. Second, improved communication

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can improve supply management and raise business productivity. Third, mobile phones make
available services that would otherwise be unavailable to underprivileged peoples, such as
mobile financial services (Mothobiy & Grzybowski, 2015).

The major causes of low-income countries like Ethiopia's lack of access to financial services
are inadequate infrastructure, inaccessibility, and financial illiteracy. Mobile phones have the
potential to transform this situation by allowing consumers to view account balances and
make money transactions over mobile networks via financial services like tele birr (Mothobiy
& Grzybowski, 2015).

The rapid rise in the growth of mobile technology throughout the world is a phenomenon that
has been particularly remarkable among poor people, largely because of the prepaid model.
As a result, all classes of society now have access to financial services as people become
increasingly familiar with a mobile-money system. In fact, mobile technology, viewed as a
payment or banking channel, has the potential to allow two important questions to be
addressed at the same time: on the demand side, it represents an opportunity for financial
inclusion among a population that is underserved by traditional banking services. On the
supply side, it opens up possibilities for financial institutions to deliver a great diversity of
services at low cost to a large clientele of the poorest sections of society and people living in
remote areas Bowen (2010).

According to the previous studies conducted on factors affecting adoption of Mobile Money
Payment Services and technology in different African countries by Niina & Kristiina (2008),
A.R. Ishengoma (2011), Momanyi Verah (2011), R.A. Lunch (2012), Karma (2014), Kithinji,
J. Makena, & Dr. Geoffrey Gekara (2014), Simon Amoh (2016), Aulelius Lema (2017) and
Ayiesa N. Ohese (2018) their finding shows that factors affecting the adoption of mobile
money payment are perceived usefulness, perceived risk, perceived value of the technology,
usage behavior of the M-Banking system, fear to incur higher transaction charges, perceived
cost of use, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, social influence, cash flow and liquidity
management, technology, quality of service, government regulation, cash in transit and
capacity management, increasing sales or reducing the costs of payment processing,
complexity of the systems, unfavorable revenue sharing models, lack of critical mass, and
lack of standardization, banking alternative quality and the awareness, were found to have an
insignificant influence on the adoption of mobile money transfer and financial services.

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However, there are no existing studies has been done in Ethiopia specifically southern region
on this Tele-Birr issue. Therefore, the current study will focus on the assess challenges and
opportunities of the adoption of tell birr: a case of ethio telecommunication in south-south
region Wolaita Sodo District.

1.3 Research Questions

Based on the problem stated in this study, researcher develops the following research
question. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon under investigation,
and in order to be able to provide a sufficient justification for answering that question, the
following specific questions needs to be addressed. For the purpose of the present research,
these questions are:
1. What are the benefits or opportunities of adopting Tell birr service from the viewpoint of

the Telle birr in Telecommunication Corporation?

2. What are the challenges to the Telle birr in Telecommunication Corporation?

3. What is the existing opportunities or benefits realized by for the adoption of Telle birr in

Telecommunication Corporation?

4. Why technology influences the adoption of Tele-birr transfer strategy in ethio-

telecommunication.
5. What is the consumer behavior influences the adoption of Tele-birr transfer strategy in
ethio- telecommunication.
1.4 Objective of the Study
1.4.1General objective
To assess the opportunity and challenges for the adoption of Telle birr in Telecommunication
corporation.
1.4.2 Specific objectives
1. To explore the current practice and extent of adoption of Telle birr in Telecommunication
Corporation.
2. To examine the existing challenges while adopting Telle birr in Telecommunication
Corporation.
3. To identify the existing opportunities or benefits realized by for the adoption of Telle birr
in Telecommunication Corporation.
4. To examine technology influences the adoption of Tele-birr in ethio- telecommunication.

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5. To assess consumer behavior influences the adoption of Tele-birr transfer strategy in ethio-
telecom.
1.5 Significance of the Study
Since tell birr is in an infant stage in Ethiopia, by investigating the different challenges for
the adoption of this service delivery channel and by recommending solutions for the
identified problems, this study will help for practitioner’s or telecommunication corporation
to benefit from the adoption of this technology. In addition, it helps to fill significant
knowledge gaps about Tell birr; there by it give insight to researchers as a source of
information for further investigation and recommendation that will help management achieve
strategic objective by correctly directing efforts in effective & efficient implementation of
Tell birr service. Finally this study will help to policy makers those concerning bodies in
making law about the Telecommunication Corporation.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The scope of the study will be limited on geographical location which is focused Wolaita
Sodo. The questionnaires were distributed to the Telecommunication Corporation employees
of district that are found in wolaita Sodo ,south Ethiopia They are currently using the service
of Tell birr but it does not consider all Districts of employees have on technology. Hence the
generalization may not be applicable to them.
1.7 Limitation of the study
The study will be focused of this study is on the assessment of the opportunities and
challenges for the adoption of Telle birr in Telecommunication Corporation South Ethiopia
Wolaita Sodo. Owing to the initial stage of Telle birr services available in Ethiopia, it is very
difficult to get secondary data as well as literature in this area from the country perspective.
And other limitations will be conducted limited variables, shortage of book & published
source in concerning of Tell birr and the last shortage of time.
1.8 Operational definitions
Tele Birr ;- is a mobile money service in Ethiopia that allows users to send and
receive money, make payments, and access other financial services using their mobile
phones. It is a digital payment platform developed and operated by the Commercial Bank
of Ethiopia (CBE), the largest commercial bank in the country.
Opportunities ;- Tele Birr, the mobile money service provided by the Commercial Bank
of Ethiopia (CBE), presents several opportunities that can contribute to the financial
inclusion and economic development of Ethiopia.

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 Challenges: - Tele Birr is a mobile money service provided by the Commercial Bank of
Ethiopia (CBE) that allows users to conduct financial transactions using their mobile
phones. While Tele Birr has brought many benefits, such as increased financial inclusion
and convenience.
1.9. Organization of the study
The study will be organized in to thee chapters. The first chapter provides an introduction to
the study. It contains background of the study, statement of problem, objectives, research
questions, significance and scope of the study. The second chapter will presents the literature
review regarding the definition of tell birr, theoretical review,empirical review the research
and sets out some research gap studies regarding the issues under investigated. The third
chapter was explaining methods of the study. In this chapter the type and design of the study,
the subjects and sampling of the study, procedures of data collection and the data analysis
techniques will be discussed.

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 CHAPTER TWO

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1. Theoretical review
2.1.1. Mobile money definition
Mobile money is defined differently within the communication sector since it has so many
overlapping uses. According to Nab Owusu (2017), mobile money is a type of electronic
payment method. Mobile money refers to a variety of financial services that can be accessed
via a mobile phone. The majority of mobile money services nowadays offer airtime
purchases, bill payments, and remittances. Using an app that is installed on the phone,
mobile money is a digital wallet service that functions when the phone is connected to the
internet. It is a form of technology that lets users receive, store, and spend money.

2.1.2. The adoption of Tele Birr, the mobile money service in Ethiopia
Mobile money is defined differently within the communication sector since it has so many
overlapping uses. According to Nab Owusu (2017), mobile money is a type of electronic
payment method. Mobile money refers to a variety of financial services that can be accessed
via a mobile phone. The majority of mobile money services nowadays offer airtime
purchases, bill payments, and remittances. Using an app that is installed on the phone, mobile
money is a digital wallet service that functions when the phone is connected to the internet. It
is a form of technology that lets users receive, store, and spend money.
2.1.3. Mobile money development: Global and African trend
In 2011, there were five billion adults worldwide; 2.5 billion of them had bank accounts,
while the remaining 2.5 billion did not. By that time, the majority of global economies had
started including measures meant to lessen financial exclusion into their development plans.
Thus, while the number of adults without bank accounts decreased by 20% to only two
billion between 2011 and 2014, (Coulibaly, 2020).

Today, mobile money services are accessible in 61% of developing nations worldwide.
Mobile money services have become widely available in many parts of Africa, Asia, Latin
America, Europe, and the Middle East over the past five years (Scharwatt, Katakam, and

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Frydrych, 2014). More than 1.35 billion mobile money accounts were registered in 2021, a
tenfold increase from 134 million in 2012.

In spite of original predictions that it would decline, year over year growth in new
registrations persists (Awanis, et al., 2022). In Africa, mobile financial services have become
a significant force for financial inclusion and a revolutionary way of reaching the unbanked
population with financial services. Because of its transformative impact and capacity to reach
a wide population, it presents a tremendous chance to breach the dominance of banks (Lema,
2017).

Additionally, according to the Global Findex database maintained by the World Bank, three-
quarters of the world's poor do not hold accounts with conventional financial institutions, not
just because they are poor but also because doing so would require them to travel and
complete additional paperwork. When compared to other continents like Asia, Africa faces an
even greater difficulty of financial exclusion. While many adults in Africa use informal
methods to borrow money and save money, it is believed that less than a quarter of adults in
Africa have accounts with official financial institutions. In contrast, 25 percent of poor
households in Asia have access to financial services (Lema, 2017).

In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile phones have grown in popularity as a tool for extending
financial services beyond the reach of bank branches in an effort to reach a larger segment of
the unbanked population and give them with access to financial services. Kenya and the
Philippines were the 10 world's first countries to provide mobile banking services. M-PESA
was introduced by telecom companies in 2007 (Maitai and Omwenga, 2016).

The way the financial services sector does business has been revolutionized by mobile money
services, which have given businesses access to new business models, customer-friendly
distribution channels and opportunity to develop customized offerings. M-PESA, Airtel
Money, Orange Money, and Yu Cash are the current four mobile money services. With more
than 12.6 million customers registered as of 2010, M-PESA is the most popular service. The
telecommunications sector in Kenya has developed to become the one with the quickest
growth, most intense competition, and most dynamic (Maitai and Omwenga, 2016).

2.1.4. Mobile money service in Ethiopia

Ethiopia still achieves poorly, despite numerous comparable nations in sub-Saharan Africa
experiencing a major rise in financial inclusion, largely fueled by digital financial services.

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Even digital payment and transfer services, which could help lower-income and less educated
populations, are hardly used (NBE, 2017). Only 12% of Ethiopian adults use electronic
payment methods like ATMs, mobile money, or other methods of cashless delivery to send or
receive money (Alemu, et al., 2021).

But the significance of financial inclusion has only lately been fully acknowledged by the
Ethiopian government. The National Council for Financial Inclusion was founded in 2017
along with the first National Financial Inclusion Strategy. Among financial services, only a
very small number of people use those that use digital channels. As an illustration, just 15.8%
of adults in 2019–20 have a mobile money account and 98.7% of all adult consumers who
paid for utilities in 2017 did so in cash. When it comes to using cash instead of financial
institutions to pay utility bills, get pay checks, and receive government payments, Ethiopia
ranks far above the norm for sub Saharan Africa (Alemu, et al., 2021).

Since its debut in 2015, M-Birr has amassed a network of more than 1.2 million users who
make deposits at more than 7,000 M-Birr sites across the country. The system enables
customers to pay for groceries, petrol and a variety of other daily services using their cell
phones. It's not the only player, though. A similar mobile money service is provided by the
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE Birr), and Hello Cash is another alternative
(Euractiv.com, 2018).

2.1.5. Technology adoption models and theories

The adoption of technology has been studied using a variety of models and theories. These
theories and models have been expanded for use in researching the acceptance of mobile
banking and financial services. They are the Unified Theory of Use and Acceptance of
Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000), the Extended Unified Theory of
Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) (Venkatesh, Thong, J. and Xu, 2012), the
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989), Roger's (1992) diffusion of
innovations, and the TAM (Davis, 1989).
2.1.5.1. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
The Technology Acceptance Model, which was based on the Theory of Reasoned Action,
was created by Davis and Fred D. in 1989. It was created with the goal to understand what
factors lead individuals to adopt or reject information technology. According to Davis (1989),
the perceived usefulness and ease of use of an information technology are the most important
individual beliefs. Perceived utility (PU) "degree to which a person believes that using a
particular system would enhance his or her job performance" (Al-Tarawneh 2019).
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The Theory of Reasoned Action's expectancy-value model serves as the foundation for the
definition of perceived utility. The expression "the extent to which a person believes that
using a particular system would be free of effort" refers to perceived ease of use (PEOU).
Therefore, individual behavioural intention (BI) and actual behaviour are caused by these two
behavioural beliefs. He discovered that PU was the best indicator of a person's propensity to
use information technology. One of the most popular and accepted models in the field of
technology acceptance is TAM (Al-Tarawneh 2019).

2.1.5.2. Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI)

Rogers created the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI) in 1962 in response to the need to
comprehend how society accepts or rejects innovation. This is regarded as one of the most
significant theories in sociology and has been used to several breakthroughs and inventions
across a variety of disciplines to assess how well they would spread throughout the
surrounding social system (Rogers, 2003).

According to Rogers (2003), diffusion is "the process by which an innovation is

communicated to members of the social system through specific channels over time" (Al-
Tarawneh 2019).

According to the DOI, five perceived characteristics of an innovation can be used to predict
whether it will be adopted. Rogers (2003) asserts that these characteristics can account for
49– 87% of the variation in forecasting the rate of adoption of innovations. The relative
advantage, or scale of perceived traits of an innovation that replaces another, is the first of
these characteristics. The second is compatibility, which refers to how well an innovation is
regarded to match the demands, values, and experiences of potential adopters. The third
factor is complexity, or how hard it is deemed to understand and use an idea. The fourth
perceived attribute is trialability, which refers to how an innovation can be tested out before
being fully adopted. The final factor is observability, or how obvious the innovation's results
are. These five characteristics are linked together while staying distinctively unique from one
another (Al-Tarawneh 2019).

2.1.5.3. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)

Although numerous researchers from around the world have created various models to assess
how individuals accept and use technology on an individual basis, Venkatesh, Morris, Davis,
G., and Davis, F. (2003) constructed a more comprehensive model that attempted to
incorporate the key ideas of earlier models. The UTAUT was viewed as a trial to harmonize

10
the terms of variables used in various models and theories of technology acceptance in
addition to incorporating the concepts of earlier models.

The first UTAUT model was created using four theoretical constructs that describe factors
that influence user behaviour, such as the intention to accept and use a particular technology,
and which are crucial as alternatives to technology acceptance. Performance Expectancy,
Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, and Facilitating Conditions are the four main constructs.
In addition to including the four moderating variables—gender, age, experience, and
voluntariness of use—in their model, Venkatesh et al. (2003) explain each of these variables
(Venkatesh, et al., 2003; Dwivedi, et al., 2017).
Following its validation, the UTAUT model was employed in a variety of empirical studies,
which verified its validity. The first three constructs are direct predictors of usage, intention,
and behaviour, whereas the fourth is a direct driver of use behaviour according to Venkatesh,
et al. (2003).
2.1.5.4. Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2)
About nine years after the first UTAUT model was created, Venkatesh and his colleagues
thought about updating the older model by include three new constructs: hedonic motivation,
price value, and habit, as shown below.The UTAUT model was developed based on
organizational settings, even though it explained around 70% of the variance in behavioral
intention to use technology and around 50% of the variance in technology use. The more
recent UTAUT2 model, however, placed more emphasis on the customer perspective than it
did on personnel at an organization (Venkatesh et al., 2012).
2.2. Empirical review
This section reviews studies previously done on factors influencing and opportunities the
adoption of mobile money in telecommunication industry. According to Zikmund et al
(2010), empirical literature review is a directed search of published work which includes
books and periodicals. It is a comprehensive survey of previous enquiries related to the
research questions.

According to the research conducted by N.G. Karma, 2014 about key factors affecting
Mobile banking adoption among Bank customers in Sudan, customers of banks in Sudan will
be more likely to adopt tele birr money transfer service if they find it easy to be used with no
much required efforts Also; they will intend to use the service if the bank was trustable and
provides them Confidentiality and protection for their information.

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In another study conducted by R.A. Oluoch (2012) in Kenya the findings regarding factors
which affect the adoption of M-banking in Kenya in the case of Nakuru Municipality
“perceived usefulness is the most important significant factor affecting the adoption of M-
banking technology perceived risk hinders majority of bank customers from adopting mobile
banking Mobile banking service providers should ensure security measures are enforced”.

In a similar study conducted in Tanzania by A.R. Ishengoma (2011), adoption of mobile

Banking technology by customers is highly influenced by perceived value of the technology
to the customers “the intention to use M-Banking service was brought forward by the
perceived value of the M-Banking services, most were registered because of the belief in M-
Banking that enabled them to access financial services in an easy way Also, the level of
education, age and sex were determinants of usage behavior of the M-Banking system.”
Mobile banking service allows customers to manage their accounts with ease.

Karma (2014) in his study to identify key factors affecting the adoption of mobile banking
adoption among bank customers in Sudan uses Technology acceptance model, however, like
others researches it includes additional variables beyond the two original independent
variables of TAM i.e., perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. As result Karma added
two additional important variables in the model as determinant variable these are perceived
trust and perceived risk.

Essayase Taye (2018), study to identify the factors that influence the adoption of mobile
money service in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia by taking the customer experience. The Mobile
Money service is called in Ethiopia ‘M-Birr’. Birr is the name of the Ethiopian currency. This
study used a descriptive research design involving selected M-Birr customers, to know and
understand about customer’s feelings, attitudes or preferences concerning one or more
variables by developing a questionnaire to collect primary data. The study used eight variable
factors that can affect the adoption level of customers. Based on the result of the study, out of
the eight variables even though all of them were important knowledge of the service,
convenience and comfort with electronic money were the standout factors with ratings closer
to very important. This leads to the conclusion that before customers consider the M-Birr
service features and benefits, their knowledge of the services carries an important weight.
Another conclusion is the fact that ‘electronic money’ is new to customers that their comfort
with it has been observed to be very important to customers.

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Firehiwot Abebe & lemma lessa (2020), Factors Affecting Mobile Payment Adoption by
Merchants in Ethiopia Nowadays the world witnessed a rapid growth in mobile commerce
and widespread use of mobile devices. The growth of mobile commerce depends on widely
accepted mobile payment systems. However, this trend is not well experienced in developing
countries like Ethiopia. Even though merchants somehow benefited from the rapid growth in
electronics commerce and use of mobile devices in ecommerce, they still hesitate to
effectively employ in their day to day transactions. Little research has been conducted to
examine and explain the merchants' views on the new payment technology. In this paper, we
explore the factors that affect merchants’ adoption of mobile payment in Ethiopia. The result
suggests that relative advantage, ease of use, usefulness, attitude, trust, risk/security and cost
are factors that affect mobile payment adoption positively and significantly. Whereas
compatibility is found not significant for merchants’ adoption of mobile payment systems in
Ethiopian context. Based on the findings, the study proposes a conceptual model for mobile
payment adoption to guide practice and future research in this emerging area.

BekaluTibebe (2019), Factors Affecting Adoption of Mobile Banking: the case of Nib
International Bank S.C. This research paper aims to understand the factors that affect the
adoption of mobile banking technology in the case of Nib International Bank S.C. five
selected branch customers using technology acceptance model developed by Davis with
additional variable namely perceived risk. Understanding the factors that will affect
customers’ adoption behavior of mobile banking will help the NIB’S effort to increase the
penetration and growth of mobile banking service.

Bezaalem Abebe (2019). “Factors Affecting Mobile Payment Adoption in Ethiopia: A

Consumer Perspective” Though several studies have contributed substantially to the literature
on mobile payment adoption, the findings of most of the studies may not be applicable to
other countries like Ethiopia, due to differences in cultural, economic and legal environments.
Niina & Kristiina (2008) explored merchant adoption of mobile payment systems by
examining empirically and discuss factors that drive and inhibit the adoption of mobile
payment by merchants in Finland. Their results suggest that the main adoption drivers are
related to the means of increasing sales or reducing the costs of payment processing, while
the barriers to adoption include the complexity of the systems, unfavorable revenue sharing
models, lack of critical mass, and lack of standardization.

13
Richard, et al (2019), in a recent study, found that the drivers and barriers of mobile payment
adoption by merchants and provided a theoretical explanation of how the adoption of mobile
payment improves the payment experience of merchants. The study adopted an exploratory
approach by using the case study of two merchants in the retail sector in Ghana. The findings
demonstrate that, in Ghana, the business model and nature of the business, contextual factors,
and technology type, as well as competition and cost, serve as drivers of merchant adoption
of mobile payment. On the other hand, factors such as risk, legal challenges, lack of trust and
lack of skills on the part of some merchants to comprehend mobile payment application were
classified as barriers to mobile payment adoption in Ghana.

Bertrand and Ahmad (2014) in their part argue that the mass adoption of mobile payments
will only be triggered when the benefits – both perceived and real - become clear to
consumers and merchants. Because mobile payments are still relatively new, the benefits
largely pertain to the perceived potential until the service is adopted widely and the benefits
accrue to everyone (ControlScan, 2013).

Mohammadi and Jahanshahi (2008) established a framework for evaluating the barriers and
drivers of the customer and merchant adoption of mobile payments. Accordingly, the distinct
four categories of barriers to merchant adoption: relative advantage, compatibility,
complexity, and costs. Network externalities and security and trustworthiness of the mobile
payments were also considered as relevant factors in mobile payment adoption.

Kithinji, J. Makena, & Dr. Geoffrey Gekara (2014). “Factors Influencing Adoption of Mobile
Money Services among Institutions of Higher Learning in Kenya. The objective of this study
was to establish factors influencing adoption of mobile money services among institutions of
higher learning. The specific objectives of this study were: to establish the influence of
banking alternative quality on the adoption of mobile money services, and to determine the
influence of financial reporting standards on the mobile money services at institutions of
higher learning. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population of
this study comprised of the senior management staff in finance and accounting department in
institutions of higher learning within the Nairobi County. The study collected both primary
and secondary data whereby primary data was collected using a questionnaire while
secondary data was obtained from the strategic plan and other publications at the University.

14
Marion Mbogo (2010). “The Impact of Mobile Payments on the Success and Growth of
Micro-Business: The Case of M-Pesa in Kenya”. This paper aims to investigate the success
factors attributable to the use of mobile payments by micro-business operators.

Aulelius Lema (2017). This study investigated the factors influencing the adoption of mobile
financial services in the unbanked population. We employed a cross-sectional design by
collecting data at a single point in time. We used six variables in the study based on the
Technology Acceptance Model, TAM. The variables were Perceived usefulness, perceived
ease of use, perceived trust, perceived cost, Perceived risk and Social influence. The
construct validity of the measurement items was established by using confirmatory factor
analysis conducted using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and the reliability was
established by using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient. The hypothesis was tested by using
multiple regression analysis. The sample size used was 250 respondents selected from the
study area. The study revealed that perceived usefulness, perceived cost and social influence
had a significant influence on the adoption of mobile financial services. Perceived ease of
use, perceived risk and perceived trust were found to have an insignificant influence on the
adoption of mobile financial services. The implication of the findings forms the basis for
product or service development, pricing, marketing and policy formulation. In this study we
recommend a longitudinal research to be conducted in order to understand the influences of
the adoption behaviour at different level of market maturity and points of time.

Emmanuel Kofi P.et.al, (2021) Understanding Factors That Influence Consumer Intention to
Use Mobile Money Services: An Application of UTAUT2 with Perceived Risk and Trust”
Mobile money is an attractive alternative that has boomed in recent times due to the
advancement in mobile and telecommunication technology. Although there are copious
benefits of such a great mobile technology, the adoption rate is far from expectations. This
study examines the factors that predict users’ behavioral intention (BI) to adopt and use
mobile money. The study adopts the unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology as
a reference and builds an extended model by taking into account “perceived risk” and “trust.”
Data collected from 373 mobile money users in Ghana via a questionnaire survey were
analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach. The findings reveal that
performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, habit, price value, perceived
risk, and trust substantially affect users’ BI. However, facilitating conditions and hedonic
motivation showed no pertinent effect on users’ BI. Implications for both theory and practice
are also discussed.

15
Georgina Amorkor (2019). Assessing The Impact and Challenges of Mobile Money: A Case
Study of University of Ghana. The significant role technology plays in boosting societies’
development cannot be overlooked. The result revealed that “perceived ease of use” of the
mobile money service is the key factor that drives the use of the service among students in
the University of Ghana. Thus, saving some money on your mobile money wallet is not only
safe, but very convenient as well. Also, it has been shown that all the correlation coefficients
on the impact of mobile phone use on savings, expenditure and safety were positive and
significant, with savings having the greatest impact. Furthermore, majority of the students
think that the main challenge with the mobile money service is the individuals’ preference in
using cash for the payment of goods and services instead of mobile money. Finally, the
findings from this study have managerial implications: network service providers need to
sensitize their public education activities on how mobile money technology operates and its
usefulness. Also, a system upgrade can ensure that their mobile money system is reliable for
subscribers and make using the system convenient.

Ayiesa N. Ohese (2018). Factors Affecting Adoption of Mobile Money Payment Services by
Students at Institutions of Higher Learning: Case Study of Kenya Institute of Special
Education. This study revealed that adoption of mobile payment services among students in
institutions of high learning is battled with perceived financial and social risks by potential
users, fear in transacting large amount of money and fear to incur higher transaction charges.
The researcher therefore infers that ways need to be found to make it possible to demystify
perceived risks and above transaction related issues among current and potential users, even
if it takes sharing transaction costs.

James Maitai, Dr. Jane Omwenga (2016). “Factors Influencing the Adoption of Mobile
Money Transfer Strategy in Telecommunication Industry in Kenya: A Case of Safaricom–
Kenya Ltd Regression analysis performed indicated that the factors in study contributed
76.4% to adoption of mobile money adoption strategy. Further research is proposed to
determine other factors that influence adoption of mobile money transfer strategy.

Muhammad Shujah, and Zarina Abdul (2017). “Role of Telecom Industry in Promoting
Mobile Money Transfers and Its Customer Satisfaction in Pakistan. These facts pointed out
the Pakistan have immense impending in mobile banking. As a result of adopting branchless
less banking through telecom companies is the formal banking which is easy and manageable
for the bank as well as for customers also as they don’t have to wait in the long queues for the

16
small transaction or for paying utility bills. Besides these, the other advantages of using
mobile payment are time saving, efficient, secures and error free. It is concluded that due to
advancement of technology in every field of life, banking sector also acquired user friendly
technology and developed mobile money transfer services.

Simon Amoh (2016) Mobile Money Services Adoption and Customer Behavioural Intentions
in Ghana. The results of the study revealed that users of mobile money still use the services
for traditional purpose of buying, sending and receiving money. The study revealed that
factors that significantly lead to the adoption of mobile money services were perceived cost
of use, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, perceived usefulness and social influence.
Social influence though was one of the adoption, it insignificantly did not moderate the
relationship between adoption factors of perceived risks, relative advantage and perceived
trust. Theoretically, the study fills the gap that studies on mobile money services are few.
This study therefore provide implication for marketing management in the
telecommunication industry on the creating of much awareness on the services mobile money
can perform.

Momanyi Verah (2011). “Factors Affecting Effective Capacity in Mobile Phone Money
Transfer Services: A Case Of Safaricom M-Pesa Services. The study found that effective
capacity in the money transfer service has not been optimally managed in a way that would
ensure effective capacity in the money transfer industry. The study also found that the current
M-pesa capacity is constrained thereby negatively affecting the quality of services. Capacity
has been affected by variables among them the following: cash flow and liquidity
management, technology, quality of service, government regulation, cash in transit and
capacity management. From the study findings, it can be inferred that an effective capacity
management will enhance the quality of the money transfer service. In this study, a large
percentage of respondents (80%) reported that the M-pesa money transfer service faces
challenges that affect its effective capacity. A further 42% of the respondents strongly agreed
that system delays represent the greatest challenge facing the service.

2.3. Research Gap

 There are a plenty of variables that affect factors that affecting the adoption of Tele-
birr in Ethio-Telecommunication Corporation south, south wolaita sodo
district.However, the variables that got more attention and will be included in this
study such as technology and user’s attitude on the adoption of Tele-birr. Thus, as to

17
 the knowledge of the researcher, there is still limited number of literatures in
Ethiopian Tele-come industry, the previous literatures made by; Essayase Taye
(2018), BekaluTibebe (2019), Bezaalem Abebe (2019), Firehiwot Abebe & lemma
lessa (2020), were conducted their study in Ethiopia on factors that influence the
adoption of mobile money service. The result suggests that relative advantage, ease of
use, usefulness, attitude, trust, risk/security, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of
use, compatibility, perceived cost, perceived trust, perceived risk, attitude and
behavioral intention are factors that affect mobile payment adoption positively and
significantly.

Other scholars outside Ethiopia conducted in similar study on factors affecting adoption of
Mobile Money Payment Services and technology in different African countries by Niina &
Kristiina (2008), A.R. Ishengoma (2011), Momanyi Verah (2011), R.A. Oluoch (2012),
Karma (2014), Kithinji, J. Makena, & Dr. Geoffrey Gekara (2014), Simon Amoh (2016),
Aulelius Lema (2017) and Ayiesa N. Ohese (2018) their finding shows that factors affecting
the adoption of mobile money payment are perceived usefulness, perceived risk, perceived
value of the technology, usage behavior of the M-Banking system, fear to incur higher
transaction charges, perceived cost of use, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, consumer
behavior, resource availability, technology and users attitude, social influence, cash flow and
liquidity management, technology, quality of service, government regulation, cash in transit
and capacity management, increasing sales or reducing the costs of payment processing,
complexity of the systems, unfavourable revenue sharing models, lack of critical mass, and
lack of standardization, banking alternative quality and the awareness, were found to have an
insignificant influence on the adoption of mobile money transfer and financial services.

It is believed that the factors affecting the adoption of mobile money payment are perceived
usefulness, perceived risk, perceived value of the technology, usage behavior of the M-
Banking system, fear to incur higher transaction charges, perceived cost of use, ease of use,
trust, social influence, cash flow and liquidity management, technology, quality of service,
government regulation, and others.
Based on above issue this study will prove critical in bridging the knowledge gap by
identifying variables such as; technology and user’s attitude on the adoption of Tele-birr .
However, there are no existing studies has been done in Ethiopia specifically southern region
on this Tele-Birr issue. Besides, other research works conducted in Ethiopia in relation to e-

18
banking, M-Birr, CBE-Birr, challenges and prospect, customer satisfaction and behavior
towards e-banking and mobile money adoption. This makes the study more relevant and
therefore intends to fill these relevant gaps in literature by identifying the factors that
affecting the adoption of Tele-birr in Ethio-Telecommunication Corporation in south, south
wolaita sodo district.

CHAPTER THREE

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter covers the research methodology will be used for the study. It entails the research
design, sample and sampling techniques, data collection procedure and the way data collected
will be analysed.
3.1. Research Design

The conceptual arrangement within which the study will be conducted is referred to as
Research design. It is used as the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of
data (Kothari, 2004). The same authors discuss three types of research design: They are
exploratory- discovery of ideas and insights, descriptive which is concerned with determining
the frequency with which an event occurs or with relationship between variables, and
explanatory which deals with hypothesis testing.
According to Kothari (2004), descriptive research includes different kinds of surveys and
fact-finding enquiries. The design is used to describe the characteristics of the independent
variables. This aids to get information regarding the status of the phenomenon to explain
what the current situation is with respect to the variable of the investigation, on the

19
performance appraisal systems. Furthermore, Saunders, et al., (2009) shows that explanatory
research establishes causal relationships between variables.
3.2. Target Population
According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2013), a population refers to an entire group of
individuals, events or an object having a common observable characteristic. The target
population of the study composed of the staff member of ethio- telecom south –south region
Wolaita Sodo district; which was divided into 3 categories as as; Top Level Management,
Middle Level Management and Support Staff/Lower level management. The target population
for this study will be used 540.

Table 3. 4 Target population

Category Total population

Top Level Management 13

Middle Level Management 76

Support Staff/ technical level 451

Total 540
Source: secondary data from HR manager 2022

3.3. Sampling Frame

Sampling frame is a (Physical) representation of all the elements in the population from which
the sample is drawn (Sekaran&Bougie, 2011). The definition also encompasses the purpose of
sampling frame which is to provide a means of choosing the particular members of the target
population that are to be interviewed in the survey. More than one set of materials may be
necessary and this is generally the case in multiple surveys with multi-stage nature. In this study
the sampling frame included Top Level Management, Middle Level Management and Support
Staff/Lower level management

3.4. Sample and Sampling Techniques

In this study, for selection of samples, stratified sampling technique will be adopted. The
reason to adopt this stratify sampling is due to the sample will be stratified in three categories
of study groups such as, Top Level Management, Middle Level Management and Support
Staff/Lower level management. In order to determine the sample size this study will select

20
respondents from each selected stratum with simple random sampling technique. According
to Mugenda&Mugenda (2013), the social research formula below was one of the ways of
determining sample size.

3.5. Research Approach

According to Creswell (2007), there are three approaches available for researchers to design
their research methodology namely Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed research approaches.
According to Kothari (2004), quantitative approach contains the group of data in quantitative
form which can be subjected to difficult quantitative analysis in a formal and informal
manner.

On the other hand, qualitative approach is used the subjective assessment of attitudes,
opinions and behavior. Thus, for this current study the researcher was used quantitative
research approach. As it helps to explore, present, describe and examine relationships and
trends within data and as it also supports to collect results in numerical and standardized data
(Saunders, Lewis and Thorhill, 2009).

3.6. Source of data

Primary and secondary data are the two types and sources of data. Researcher might use
either both or one of the types of data relies on the investigation type and data collect by
researcher Saunders et.al, (2007). For this research, to collect relevant data both primary and
secondary data sources will be used.

3.6.1. Primary Data

According to Malhotra et al. (2006), primary data are originated by a researcher for the
specific purpose of addressing the problem at hand. Therefore, the primary data was obtained
directly from respondents through self-administered questionnaires. The primary data
provided first-hand information to this study about the factors affecting the adoption of Tele
birr transfer strategy in ethio- telecom and other issues necessary for this research.

3.6.2. Secondary Data

Secondary data means data that are already available i.e., they refer to the data which have
already been collected and analyzed by someone else (published or unpublished). When the

21
researcher utilizes secondary data, then he has to look into various sources from where he can
obtain them (Kothari, 2004). For this research purpose, secondary data was obtained from a
literature review collected from written theses, journal papers, textbooks, newspapers, and
literature on tax compliance written by different scholars. Similarly, manuals, directives,
proclamation related to Tele birr were used. The aim of the secondary source was to interpret,
offer commentary, analysis and draw conclusions about events described in primary sources.

3.7. Data Collection Method

The data collection instrument, for collecting the primary quantitative data used a self-
developed questionnaire containing self-assessment items measured on the 5-point Likert
type of scale strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree to inquire answers in
the form of close-ended questions had different sections. The questionnaire is self-
administered by the researcher through drop and pick techniques.

3.8. Data Collection Procedures

Questionnaires were distributed personally by researcher visiting all stratums. To maintain
the validity of the constructs and scale used in this research, most of the questions will be
adopted from previous researches conducted by different scholars with little modifications.

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