Unitel budgets USD1.35bn for 2013-15

Angola’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, Unitel, has budgeted network investment of AOA130 billion (USD1.35 billion) for the three-year period 2013-2015, Angolan news agency Angop reports, quoting company director Amilcar Safeca. Unitel spent roughly the same level of CAPEX in the three years to the end of 2012, funding projects such as expanding mobile coverage to the capitals of 162 of Angola’s 173 municipalities, rolling out fibre-optic backbone infrastructure across twelve of the country’s 18 provinces, and launching a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. For the next three years investment will be focused on improving both voice and data services and expanding network coverage, as Unitel fights keen competition from rival Movicel, which was the first company in Africa to launch a commercial LTE network in April 2012.