Connecting Today, Powering Tomorrow
Uplink Technologies Limited is a licensed telecommunications and enterprise technology provider headquartered and operating in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We engineer the infrastructure that bridges citizens, enterprises, and telecom carriers to carrier-grade digital services.
Our Foundation
Engineered for Ethiopian Operational Reality
Direct MNO Interconnects
First-party SMPP bindings and API bridges directly into Ethio Telecom and Safaricom Ethiopia. No middleman aggregators, zero extra hops, minimum latency.
ECA-Licensed Carrier
Regulated by the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA/VAS/2691/2018), operating in full compliance with ECA QoS Directive No. 794/2021 and telecom fraud regulations.
INSA-Certified Application Security
Core applications (Zela Marketplace, Bulk SMS Gateway, UIMS ERP, and M-Bids) are certified by Ethiopia's Information Network Security Administration (INSA) with TLS 1.3 and AES-256.
Addis Ababa Operations Hub
Bole Brass Century Building headquarters housing our carrier routing core, direct MNO interconnects, and 24/7 Network Operations Center (NOC).
Why Uplink
Why Ethiopian Enterprises and Carriers Choose Uplink Over International Aggregators
01
Local Market Depth That Cannot Be Replicated Quickly
Foreign aggregators can open an office in Addis Ababa. They cannot replicate direct signed commercial interconnects with Ethio Telecom and Safaricom Ethiopia, an ECA operator license, active SMPP bindings, and a wholesale voice interconnect — these require regulatory and physical network presence that takes years to build.
What this means for you: Your SMS transits our SMPP binding directly into Ethiopian carrier infrastructure. There is no third-party aggregator introducing latency or creating a compliance gap.
02
Full-Stack Engineering Ownership — Zero Vendor Lock-In
We wrote every line of code running on our production infrastructure. We own our databases, message queues, transactional workers, and SBC infrastructure. We are not reselling a white-labeled SaaS platform from a European vendor.
What this means for you: When something breaks at 11PM on the last business day of the month, the engineer who answers can access the job queue, inspect the failure, and fix it — because they wrote the code.
03
INSA-Certified Cybersecurity & Enterprise Auditability
Uplink's production applications — including Zela Marketplace, Uplink Bulk SMS Gateway, UIMS Enterprise ERP, and M-Bids Reverse Auction — hold official Information Network Security Administration (INSA) application security clearance in Ethiopia, engineered with full audit trails, role-based controls, and 1-year log retention.
What this means for you: Every transaction, event, and system action is logged with user ID, timestamp, and outcome — verified by INSA security audits and exportable for regulatory compliance.
04
Commercial Certainty — Domestic Operations with Zero FX Friction
International aggregators settling in USD create FX exposure on every operational cycle. Uplink structures domestic operations in ETB. Our wholesale voice revenues are structured with local ETB settlement options for carrier partners.
What this means for you: There is no currency conversion risk between your transaction origination and your settlement receipt.
05
Production Systems, Not Sales Prototypes
Every capability we describe on this website is live in production today. Our SMS gateway delivers real OTPs. Our voice infrastructure terminates real international minutes. Our EVD network vends real airtime.
What this means for you: When we say 1,000 SMS/second — that is demonstrated production throughput on live carrier infrastructure, not a theoretical specification from an SMPP library benchmark.
| Criterion | Uplink Technologies | International Cloud Aggregator |
|---|---|---|
| ECA License | ✅ Active (ECA/VAS/2691/2018) | ❌ Typically unlicensed |
| INSA Security Clearance | ✅ Certified (Zela, UIMS, SMS, M-Bids) | ❌ Uncertified / Foreign SaaS |
| Direct MNO SMPP | ✅ Ethio Telecom & Safaricom ET | ❌ SS7 via intermediary |
| Carrier Airtime EVD | ✅ Direct domestic prepaid core | ❌ Third-party reseller |
| ETB Settlement | ✅ Native ETB | ❌ USD with FX conversion |
| Local 24/7 NOC | ✅ Addis Ababa-based | ❌ Remote, different timezone |
| Security & Encryption | ✅ TLS 1.3 & AES-256 | ⚠️ Unaudited / External |
| Code Ownership | ✅ Proprietary platform | ❌ Resold third-party SaaS |
| On-site Response | ✅ Ethiopia-based team | ❌ Remote only |
Executive Leadership
Corporate & Technical Governance
Decades of combined expertise in telecom switching, high-concurrency messaging, and enterprise cloud systems.
Abdirizack Ali
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Visionary executive leading Uplink's corporate strategy, regulatory alignment with the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA), INSA cybersecurity certification across Uplink's application suite, and carrier partnerships across East Africa.
Corporate Headquarters & Operations
Centralized in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
All operations, carrier cross-connects, and 24/7 Network Operations Centers are 100% based and operated in Addis Ababa.
Corporate Headquarters
Bole Brass Century Building, 4th Floor, Office #409
Bole Sub-City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Phone: +251 91 586 0000
Email: support@uplink.et
24/7 Network Operations Center (NOC)
Century Building Engineering Facility
Direct Fiber Cross-Connects to Ethio Telecom & Safaricom Ethiopia
Active-Active Session Border Controllers & SMPP Switch
Email: noc@uplink.et