Telecommunications in Zambia includes radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Radio and television

The state-owned

Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) is a Zambian television and radio station, formerly state owned, now technically a statutory body but still essentially under government control. It is the oldest, widest, and largest radio and ...

(ZNBC) operates three radio networks. Roughly two dozen private radio stations are operating. Relays of at least two international broadcasters are accessible in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

and

Kitwe Kitwe is the third largest city in terms of infrastructure development (after Lusaka and Ndola) and second largest city in terms of size and population (after Lusaka) in Zambia. With a population of 517,543 (''2010 census provisional'') Kitwe is ...

. ZNBC operates one television station, and is the principal local-content provider. There is also several private TV stations. Multi-channel subscription TV services are available.

Telephones

Calling code Country calling codes or country dial-in codes are telephone number prefixes for reaching telephone subscribers in the networks of the member countries or regions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The codes are defined by the ...

: +260"Communications: Zambia"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 7 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014. *

International call prefix An international call prefix, international dial-out code or international direct dial code (IDD code) is a trunk prefix that indicates an International call, international phone call. In the dialling sequence, the prefix precedes the country call ...

: 00 * Main lines: ** 82,500 lines in use, 150th in the world (2012); ** 85,700 lines in use (2011). * Mobile cellular: ** 10.5 million lines, 76th in the world (2012); ** 8.2 million lines (2011). * Satellite earth stations: 2

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and 1

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

), 3 owned by Zamtel (2010). Facilities are among the best in sub-Saharan Africa. High-capacity

microwave radio relay Microwave transmission is the transmission of information by electromagnetic waves with wavelengths in the microwave frequency range of 300MHz to 300GHz(1 m - 1 mm wavelength) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwave signals are normally lim ...

connects most larger towns and cities. Several cellular telephone services are in operation and network coverage is improving. A domestic satellite system is being installed to improve telephone service in rural areas.

Very small aperture terminal A very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) is a two-way satellite ground station with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3.8 meters. The majority of VSAT antennas range from 75 cm to 1.2 m. Bit rates, in most cases, range from 4 kbit/s up to 16 ...

(VSAT) networks are operated by private firms.

Internet

Top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...

: .zm *

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

service is widely available. *

Internet users The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

: ** 1.9 million users, 93rd in the world; 13.5% of the population, 160th in the world (2012);Calculated using penetration rate and population data fro
"Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2012"
, Population data, International Programs, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved 26 June 2013"Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2012"
International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013, retrieved 22 June 2013 ** 816,200 users, 105th in the world (2009). * Fixed broadband: 14,785 subscriptions, 138th in the world; 0.1% of the population, 166th in the world (2012)."Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. *

Wireless broadband Wireless broadband is telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term comprises both fixed and mobile broadband. The term broadband Originally the word "b ...

: 90,643 subscriptions, 121st in the world; 0.7% of the population, 137th in the world (2012)."Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. *

Internet hosts A network host is a computer or other device connected to a computer network. A host may work as a Server (computing), server offering information resources, services, and applications to users or other hosts on the network. Hosts are assigned at ...

: 16,571 hosts, 122nd in the world (2012). *

IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is the fourth version of the Internet Protocol (IP). It is one of the core protocols of standards-based internetworking methods in the Internet and other packet-switched networks. IPv4 was the first version de ...

: 162,816 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 6.8 addresses per 1000 people (2012).Population

The World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Data are mostly for 1 July 2012.

Internet censorship and surveillance

Internet access is not restricted and individuals and groups freely express their views via the Internet, however the government frequently threatens to deregister critical

online publications Electronic publishing (also referred to as publishing, digital publishing, or online publishing) includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. It also includes the editing ...

and

blogs A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

. In October 2012 the government attempted to deregister the blog

Zambian Watchdog The ''Zambian Watchdog'' is an investigative online media platform that focusses on corruption and other major crimes such as drug trafficking in Zambia. It also contains breaking news on politics and major events in Zambia. The ''Zambian Watchd ...

, but was unsuccessful because the blog was hosted abroad and therefore outside government control."Zambia"
''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2014. The constitution and law provide for

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

and

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

, however the government uses provisions contained in the law to restrict these freedoms. The government is sensitive to opposition and other criticism and has been quick to prosecute critics using the legal pretext that they had incited

public disorder Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant Risk, danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a State (polity), state ...

Libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

laws are used to suppress free speech and the press. The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, but the government frequently does not respect these prohibitions. The law requires a search or arrest warrant before police may enter a home, except during a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

or when police suspect a person has committed an offense such as

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

of the president, or

unlawful assembly Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group is about to start an act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then ter ...

. Police routinely enter homes without a warrant. The law grants the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), the Zambia Security Intelligence Service (ZSIS), and police authority to monitor communications using wiretaps with a warrant issued on the basis of probable cause, and authorities generally respect this requirement.

References

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External links