José Carvalho da Rocha, minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, said that the National Bank of Angola (BNA) annually makes available about US $ 180 million for the leasing of the space segment of telephone operators operating in the country.
The official speaking on the sidelines of the seminar on "The Challenges of Angolan Engineering"Promoted by the Order of Engineers of Angola. During the event, in which the failure of the Angosat and the construction of the second were some of the questions presented by the participants, José Carvalho da Rocha sought to clarify the advantages that it would bring to the country.
The minister explained that Unitel, Movicel, Angola Telecom, MS Telcom, the Defense and Security Services and others put pressure on the BNA to provide foreign exchange. Por year we spent 180 million dollars, which means that in two years, 360 million dollars, a value higher than the overall cost of satellite (320 million), the duration of 15 years.
José Carvalho da Rocha explained that the need to build a satellite has several objectives and one of them is the reduction of foreign exchange expenses. As an example, it revealed that monthly space segment rental for national telephony operators run between 15 and 20 million dollars per month.
An Angolan satellite would make it possible, among other advantages, to improve services, save money and earn profits. According to the minister, there is no doubt that Angola did a good business, in which all risks and mistakes were taken care of. Angosat 2 began to be built on April 24, at no additional cost to Angola, as a result of the contract entered into.
