The Angolan capital Luanda hosted last 10-11 March the 12th General Assembly of the Association of Communications and Telecommunications Regulators of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (ARCTEL-CPLP). The 2019 Annual Accounts and Activities Report were presented and approved, as well as the activities programme for the 2020-2021 mandate by the National Communications Institute of Angola (INACOM).
ANACOM participated by videoconference.
The 11th Communications Forum of the CPLP, associated to that event, was also held. It served to debate the challenges of regulation, the arrival of 5G networks and the internet of things, new business models and cyber-security.
The Angolan minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, José Carvalho da Rocha, launched the challenge of fulfilling the CPLP’s digital agenda and reducing the digital divide, the aim being to provide affordable quality services for citizens. He highlighted the “harmonisation of policies” of the telecom sector at CPLP level so as to “reduce the digital divide” that still exists between the region’s countries and to increasingly bring better services at more affordable prices to all citizens of the community.
The meeting also formalised the transfer of the presidency to INACOM, which will head the organisation for two years. In the words of José Carvalho da Rocha: “What we want with the transfer of the presidency is for the regulator to be closer to the secretariat and to introduce here new dynamics regarding the challenges facing us in the community.”
The secretary-general of ARCTEL-CPLP, Francisco Chate, stated that the forum for consultation and reflection meant to serve as a space for frank, open and participative debate about the sector’s perspectives in Portuguese-speaking society. The regulation of digital society should meet the challenges of connectivity and technological development, with a maximum effort to safeguard consumers, he reiterated.
