Angolan telecom sector regulator INACOM may announce this year the granting of the first license to operate with 5G, reports the local daily Expansao.
The distribution of the 3.3-3.7 GHz frequency band for the development of 5G technology was recently approved, according to presidential order 200/21 of 23 November. The frequency is aimed at the terrestrial mobile telephony service to make the electronic communications market more attractive to private investment.
According to information gathered by Expansao, INACOM may announce this year the award of the first license for the use of this new technology, which will bring new opportunities for companies and better services for individuals.
According to the report, Unitel confirmed that it is ready to start operating with this technology. Unitel's director of strategic planning, Eduardo Vieira, stated recently that the conditions are in place to operate with 5G. "We will soon have news", he guaranteed.
Africell also confirmed that it will start operating without 5G, but only calling with the company's chip in 2022. TeleGeography noted that the newcomer to the Angolan cellular market (Africell) intends to introduce its commercial services soon with ‘5G-ready’ infrastructure, upgradeable from 4G via software updates.
INACOM said in a release: "The slow advance of the Angolan industry may take advantage of the impulse of the new 5G technology to solve some technological barriers that prevent it from taking off. 5G can give a boost to countries like ours, with a weak technological infrastructure and an insipid industrial park based on manual processes, above all. With this opportunity, they say, we will be able to leapfrog, leaving behind expensive technology deployments that 5G has already made obsolete. We gain time and advance faster."