Telecommunication systems: general assessment:
Angola’s telecom sector shows consistent recovery following political stability, encouraging foreign investment; while the government opened the telecom sector to new competitors, there has been slow progress in LTE network development; only a small proportion of the country is covered by the 3G network infrastructure; Internet and mobile phone penetration remains low, hindered by high costs and poor infrastructure that limits access, especially in rural areas; upgrading telecom will support e-commerce, and rural access to education and health care; AngoSat-2 satellite expected to be ready in 2021; government aims to connect an additional 160,000 people to free Wi-Fi; importer of broadcasting equipment from China (2021)
(2020)domestic: only about one fixed-line per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity about 47 telephones per 100 persons (2019)
international: country code - 244; landing points for the SAT-3/WASC, WACS, ACE and SACS fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to other countries in west Africa, Brazil, Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 29, Angosat-2 satellite expected by 2021 (2019)
note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments
Definition: This entry includes a brief general assessment of a country's telecommunications system with details on the domestic and international components. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry:
Source: CIA World Factbook - This page was last updated on Saturday, September 18, 2021
