20 September 2022

Africell, the first fully foreign-owned telecom operator licensed to provide mobile services in Angola, has secured five million subscribers five months after launching commercial operations in the country.

At least half a million are active data subscribers, using the internet for social networking, e-commerce, transportation services, food delivery services, music and video streaming, among other things.

Africell officially started its commercial activities in the Angolan telecom market April 7, joining Angola Telecom, Unitel and Movicel. The commercial launch comes 14 months after the American group was awarded Angola's fourth unified telecommunications license. The licence was awarded as part of a national reform program initiated by the government to welcome more competition and innovation in key sectors of the economy, including telecommunications.

20 September 2022

The South African government has put in place a roadmap to shut down the country's second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) mobile networks by March 2025, according to a plan contained in the Department of Communications' draft Next Generation Radio Spectrum Policy.

It suggests that by June 2023, licensing of 2G devices would be prohibited, while a ban on new connections or activation of 2G devices would follow in December, with a shutdown of 2G services and networks expected in the first half of 2024. A similar process for 3G would begin in the second half of 2024 and end in March 2025.