Telecommunications in Belize include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Radio and television

Radio stations Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a lan ...

: ~25 radio stations broadcasting on roughly 50 different frequencies (2007); state-run radio was privatized in 1998."Belize"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 7 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014. *

Radios Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...

: 133,000 (1997). *

Television stations A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

: 8 privately owned TV stations; multi-channel cable TV provides access to foreign stations (2007). *

Television set A television set or television receiver (more commonly called TV, TV set, television, telly, or tele) is an electronic device for viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or as a computer monitor. It combines a tuner, display, and loudspeake ...

s: 41,000 (1997).

Telephones

Calling code Telephone country codes are telephone number prefixes for reaching subscribers in foreign countries or areas by international direct dialing (IDD). Country codes are defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in ITU-T standard ...

: +501 *

International call prefix International direct dialing (IDD) or international subscriber dialling (ISD) is placing an International call, international telephone call, dialed directly by a telephone subscriber, rather than by a switchboard operator, telephone operator. Sub ...

: 00 * Main lines: 25,400 lines in use, 180th in the world (2012). * Mobile cellular: 164,200 lines, 184th in the world (2012). * Teledensity: fixed-line of slightly less than 10 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular approaching 70 per 100 persons (2011). *

Telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

system: Above-average system; domestic trunk network depends primarily on

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

(2011). *

Communications cable Telecommunications cable is a type of guided transmission medium. Telecommunications are based on transmitting and receiving modulated waves/signals through a medium. Types of telecommunications cable include: electrical cables when electric curr ...

: Landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, parts of the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and the US (2011). * Satellite earth stations: 8 (2

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly Intel-Sat, Intelsat) is a Luxembourgish-American multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed ...

, 6 unknown) (2011).

Internet

Top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, 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 DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...

: .bz, administered by the Belize Network Information Center at the

University of Belize The University of Belize (UB) is an English-speaking multi-locational institute for higher education, and the national university of Belize. The institution offers certificates, diplomas, associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, and a graduate degre ...

. *

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, publ ...

: 81,930 users, 171st in the world; 25.0% of the population, 138th 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 * Fixed broadband: 10,077 subscriptions, 148th in the world; 3.1% of the population, 115th in the world (2012)."Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU: * * is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information ...

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. *

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

: 419 subscriptions, 147th in the world; 0.1% of the population, 146th 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 offering information resources, services, and applications to users or other hosts on the network. Hosts are assigned at least one network a ...

: 3,392 hosts, 152nd in the world (2012). *

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

: 61,952 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 189.0 addresses per 1000 people (2012). *

Internet Service Providers An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non ...

: There are several ISPs in Belize: BTL, Speed Net, and others.

Internet censorship and surveillance

There are few government restrictions on access to the Internet and no credible reports that the government monitors

e-mail Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

or Internet

chat rooms The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from ...

without judicial oversight. Prior to 2012, the government-owned telecommunications company blocked

Voice over Internet Protocol Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables Voice call, voice calls to be tran ...

(VOIP) services."Belize"
''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 20 March 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2014.National News: GOB lifts block on VOIP
'' The San Pedro Sun'', May 4th, 2013 The law provides 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 rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

and

press Press may refer to: Media * Publisher * News media * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press TV, an Iranian television network Newspapers United States * ''The Press'', a former name of ''The Press-Enterprise'', Riverside, California ...

and the government generally respects these rights in practice. The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and government authorities generally respect these prohibitions in practice. Law enforcement agencies may, with judicial oversight, intercept communications to obtain information in the interest of "national security, public order, public morals, and public safety." The law defines communication broadly to encompass the possible interception of communication by post, telephone, facsimile, e-mails, chat, and/or text messages whether encrypted or unencrypted or whether provided by public or private providers.

References

* *

External links

Public Utilities Commission of Belize

Belize Network Information Center

Belize
SubmarineCableMap.com {{Internet censorship by country