The Angolan Institute of Communications (INACOM) led today(20) to the attribution of titles for the use of frequencies for the implementation of 5G technology to electronic communications operators Africell, Movicel and Unitel, at an event attended by MenosFios.
Held at INACOM's premises, this action is supported by Presidential Decree nº 200/21 of 23 November, which enshrines the allocation of the 3.3-3.7 GHz frequency band to the land mobile telephony service, especially for the development of 5G technology which in 2021 it is driven by the need to ensure continuous improvement in the provision of telecommunications services.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of INACOM, Pascoal Borges Ale Fernandes, was one of the speakers at the ceremony, which began by highlighting today as a milestone and an important step in the journey towards transforming the telecommunications sector in Angola, informing that "INACOM worked on the refarming of frequencies in order to guarantee the technical conditions for Angola to be able to make available the frequencies that are currently allocated, as well as to give the possibility of supporting a greater density of equipment simultaneously and thus, there to be a considerable increase in the quality of the service , covering more customers in national territory…".
The Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication, Manuel Gomes da Conceição Homem, also spoke at the event and began by considering that “Information and communication technologies are, along with infrastructure associated with logistics, agriculture and energy, one of the most important factors for attracting investment and also for enabling the economy to develop and grow."
BUT: Unitel waiting for INACOM to implement 5G
The progress of our country at an international level was also one of the subjects highlighted by the Minister in his approach, where "regarding development indicators and taking into account that our population is among the five youngest and fastest growing in the world, we believe that ICTs play an increasingly important role in attracting investment and diversifying the economy, in creating employment based on the added value of knowledge, digital inclusion and the fight against social exclusion…".
According to what our editors found, with the attribution of these titles to these three operators, the Angolan Government intends to guarantee that investments in terms of telecommunications infrastructures are in line with the technological evolution that the world observes, and also takes into account the need to ensure the sustainability of the means, with the fundamental focus on guaranteeing a better provision of services to the population.
It should also be noted, according to what INACOM reveals, the processes for attributing the said titles follow some very specific procedures, namely the attribution of the title for a period of two years to carry out tests, a phase during which operators are exempt of payment of fees for the use of the spectrum, and in the subsequent stage, the attribution of the title for the operation, phase in which the holders of the titles pay fees for the use of the consigned spectrum.
Today's activity also confirms a clear achievement and represents yet another stage in the evolution of national wireless networks, which will allow a new level of flexibility, performance and high data transmission rates, so that networks can provide services to meet the needs of of a wide variety of users and different connection types.
Representing the operators were Almicar Safeca(UNITEL), Aldison Santos(Movicel) and Gonçalo Farias(Africell).
