Decades of warfare led to the neglect and destruction of Angola’s telecommunications infrastructure as well as very slow development. Since the restoration of peace in 2002, foreign investment in Angola has increased dramatically. Angola’s fixed-line network, Angola Telecom, still continues to serve less than 1% of the population. Licensing of four new fixed-wireless operators implemented in 2002 has introduced competition to this sector, making use of Third Generation (3G) wireless technologies and WiMAX to provide advanced services. A national fibre optic backbone network is being put into effect. The government intends to privatise Angola Telecom and the licensing of a third mobile operator is expected to take place in the near future.
Chinese telecommunications company, Huawei, has plans to open a training centre in Angola to help cater for the rapid growth in new wireless technologies.
Angola recorded 100 000 internet users in March 2008.
Angola has recently inaugurated a satellite telecommunications system of multi-sectoral assistance dubbed "INFRASAT”. The system enables the transmission of data by voice, image and internet at high speed and offers the possibility for transmission of radio and television signals. INFRASAT will also enable mobile phone operators to increase their transmission capacity and expand coverage, and will serve to improve telecommunication services connection capacity.
