World Report

new era of telecommunications was ushered in earlier this year when the government passed legislation that brought an end to the monopoly held by state-owned Angola Telecom.
Four new licences will be issued for fixed-line services but, as elsewhere in Africa, it is inevitable that the cheaper rollout costs of cellular networks will make mobile phones the most popular means of communication.
With the launch of a new GSM (global system for mobile communications) network in April, the state’s monopoly over cellular telecoms also came to an end. New mobile operator Unitel hopes to attract 150,000 subscribers this year – more than the total number of fixed-line users in Angola.
Unitel is 25 per cent-owned by Portugal Telecom. Mercury, a subsidiary of Angola’s state oil company Sonangol, has a 25 per cent stake and two other firms share the remainder.
GSM is the most widely used telecoms system in the world and Unitel’s subscribers will be able to connect to around 400 networks in more than 140 countries.

Ribeiro
‘The state must provide – we cannot rely on private operators alone’

The first phase of the new system, inaugurated by Angola’s president, is a $68 million investment and covers the capital, Luanda, and Benguela. There are plans to extend it to other provinces in the near future.
Angola Telecom’s cellular network uses the older and less efficient CDMA system which is widely used in the US, but the company aims to develop its own GSM network.
Licinio Tavares Ribeiro, minister of post and telecommunications, says: “Legislation has opened up the sector to foreign investors so that, together, we can develop our telecommunications systems.” No date has been set as yet for the privatisation of Angola Telecom, but he says interest has already been shown by companies in South Africa, Japan, Portugal and France.

Matos
‘We need to invest £10-12 million a year to keep services working’

The sell-off is likely to be carried out in stages, with 49 per cent of the shares being offered in the first phase.
“We recognise that Angola Telecom must be privatised in order to have better management and efficiency,” says the company’s administrator and general manager, Jose Gualberto de Matos. “We have to resolve some problems before the privatisation – whenever we sell something, we must sell it in good condition.”
The state has been investing tens of millions of dollars in expanding fixed-line telephony in Luanda, while the construction of a new eight-storey office for Angola Telecom is due to be completed this year.
Mr de Matos says the fixed-line services of Luanda are modernised and digitalised, although current capacity does not meet demand.

“We have 60,000 fixed lines in Luanda, but this is not nearly enough,” he says. “We need to invest $10-12 million every year just to keep these services operational. We also have problems expanding our network to outlying areas.”
Angola Telecom’s priority is to reach all of the provincial capitals and the most important municipalities. “The state is obliged to provide telecommunications throughout the country. We cannot depend on private operators alone,” says Mr Ribeiro.
“At present, our network is supported by satellite as much of the terrestrial network was destroyed by war. The state is obliged to reconstruct those systems, but we will need the help of private firms. We are conscious that we have neither enough money to develop our systems alone, nor to pay foreign technicians.”
Priority has been given to the coastal provinces because they enjoy more security as well as offering greater potential for industrial, agricultural and tourism development.
Angola is also participating in the SAT3 submarine cable, which links South Africa to countries on Africa’s Atlantic coast as well as to Portugal.

Postal services in Angola have been decimated by the civil war, according to Madalena de Lemos Neto, president of Correios de Angola. “We were one of the most destroyed sectors, but we are reconstructing some of the infrastructure,” she says.
“At present we can assure the distribution of the ordinary mail service in the coastal provinces, regional capitals and some important localities,” she adds.
The Angola postal service has been working for five years in collaboration with Express Mail Service (EMS) to make operations more efficient and commercialised, although privatisation is still some way off.