It provides the full range of services including fixed and mobile voice, broadband and internet.

It is a public industrial and commercial establishment with legal personality, supervised by the Ministry of Communication, Information Technology and Media.

[1] The International Development Association provided a loan of US$7,700,000 to cover start-up costs including buildings, equipment and vehicles.

[1] Onatel invested US$550,000 in West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOOC) in 2007, and $US350,151 in the Regional African Satellite Communication Organization (RASCOM) in 2007.

[4] In October 2014 the government of Burundi, Onatel and Huawei officially launched the Bujumbura Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) projects.

[1] In September 2015 Nestor Bankumukunzi, Minister of Posts, Information Technologies, Communication and Media, visited Onatel.

Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, Prime Minister of Burundi, blamed poor management and the inability of staff to adapt to competition and new technology.

[1] Other companies wholly or partially owned by the state were also reporting negative results, including Hôtel Source du Nil, Cogerco, Tanganyika Mining Burundi, Regideso, Socabu and Sodeco.

Projects included the expansion of the metropolitan fiber optic networks in Bujumbura, Ngozi and Gitega, and later in all cities and communes in the country.

Nothing had been spent on the fixed line network for ten years, and some equipment had broken down, but Onatel planned to repair it and then start adding new subscribers.

There were plans to sell obsolete real estate owned by the company, as well as shares in BANCOBU and Banque Burundaise pour le Commerce et l'Investissement (BBCI) to obtain money to pay salary arrears.