Mr Zolana Joao, the Director-General of the National Space Program Management Office (GGPEN), had his appointment in the board of Instituto Angolano de Comunicações (INACOM) extended yesterday by a Presidential decree.

INACOM is a government institution responsible for advising and representing the Angolan government through regulation, supervision and inspection of the Communications Sector. The announcement was made through a government decree issued by the President, João Lourenço.

While the Presidential decree saw to the exit of several Directors, it also saw to several appointments at INACOM. The President appointed Pascoal Borges Alé Fernandes to the position of President of the Board of Directors of INACON; Luísa de Freitas Bernardo Augusto, Executive Director; Joaquim Domingos Muhongo, Executive Director; Francisco Gomes Quininga, Executive Director; Elsio Carlos Domingos Manuel, Executive Director,

Mr Zolana João was appointed as Non-Executive Director alongside Meick Sandro da Costa Lopes Afonso. Zolana’s appointment is an extension of his tenure at the board of INACOM, while he currently serves as the Director-General of GGPEN.

Frequency allocation and orbital slots have been a challenge to African countries due to launch requirements and the implications of failure to launch enough satellites at a certain period. The agreement ratified at the ITU conference held in November last year sets regulative plans for the deployment of Non-Geostationary Satellites systems, including mega-constellations in low-Earth orbit.

The deal stated that for non-geosynchronous constellation operators to retain complete spectrum licenses in the future, they will have to reach deployment milestones, starting seven years after requesting the spectrum. Afterwards, NGSO constellation operators are required to launch 10 per cent of their satellites in two years, 50 per cent in five years and 100 per cent in seven years.

Regulations like this are what Mr Zolana will be expected to address with his position, interfacing between INACOM, SADC, other African countries and the ITU.