This article concerns the systems of telecommunication in Austria.
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
has a highly developed and efficient telephone network, and has a number of radio and television broadcast stations.
Infrastructure
The telephone system is highly developed and efficient.
Fibre-optic
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...
coverage is extensive, although it remains very expensive. A full range of telephone and Internet services are available via the network.
["Austria Communications"]
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
Austria has 15
satellite earth station
A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...
s, two
Intelsat (one Atlantic Ocean and one Indian Ocean) and one
Eutelsat. Additionally, there are around 600
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 1 ...
s (VSATs) (2007).
[
]
Telephones
* International calling code: 43[
]
Fixed line phones
* 3.4 million fixed line phones, 47th in the world (2011).[
The majority of fixed lines are analogue, with ]Integrated Services Digital Network
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. Work ...
(ISDN) lines for the remainder.
Fixed-line subscribership has been in decline since the mid-1990s and was eclipsed by mobile-cellular in the late 1990s.[
]
Mobile phones
* 7.6 million mobile phone lines in use, 60th in the world (2011).[
The Austrian mobile phone market is highly competitive, with some of the lowest rates in Europe. Due to the geographical structures of Austria (mountains, flat lands, lakes) many providers use it as a "testing range" for new services. ]Mobile number portability
Mobile number portability (MNP) enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network carrier to another.
General overview
Mobile number portability is implemented in varying ways across ...
was introduced in 2008, allowing users to retain their mobile phone numbers when switching between network operators. The original area codes allocated to each operator can no longer be used to determine the network with which a subscriber is registered.
;First generation networks
* D-Netz by Telekom Austria
A1 Telekom Austria Group is a provider of a range of fixed-line, broadband Internet, multimedia services, data, and IT systems, wholesale as well as mobile payment services. It is a subsidiary of Mexican telecommunications conglomerate América M ...
. This network was switched off at the end of the 1990s.
;Second generation networks
There are three nationwide GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
networks which also support additional brands and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).
* A1: originally Mobilkom. It now runs a mixed GSM-900, GSM-1800 and UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the In ...
network. Also provides service for MVNO's bob, B-free (owned by A1), Red Bull Mobile and Yess!
* T-Mobile
T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...
: originally max mobil. It now runs a mixed GSM-900, GSM-1800 and UMTS network. Also marketed as telering as a separate brand.
* Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
: originally One (until September 2008). A mixed GSM-1800 and UMTS network. Since end 2011 owned by Drei/Hutchinson Whampoa.
;Third generation networks
* Drei: Owned by Hutchinson Whampoa, a Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
based company that runs its own UMTS network.
Internet
* 37 Internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...
s (ISPs), most of them organised in the local ISP association Internet Service Providers Austria, ISPA.
* 6.7 million Internet users, 50th in the world; 81% of the population, 29th in the world (2012).["Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2012"]
International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013, retrieved 22 June 2013
* 2,074,252 fixed broadband subscriptions, 41st in the world; 25.2% of the population, 33rd in the world (2012).["Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"](_blank)
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.
* 4,564,834 mobile subscriptions, 40th in the world; 55.5% of the population, 23rd in the world (2012).["Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"](_blank)
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.
* 3.5 million Internet hosts, 30th in the world (2012).[
* 300,000 Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines (ADSL).
The ]country code
Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes (geocodes) developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The term ...
for Austria is "AT", the country code top level domain
A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all t ...
(ccTLD) is ".at
.at is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Austria. It is administered by nic.at.
Second-level domains
The .at top-level domain has a number of second-level domains:
* .ac.at (reserved for academic institutions, especially u ...
".[
"].wien
.wien is a top-level domain in the Internet for Vienna, Austria. It was approved by ICANN on October 28, 2013, and became available for public registration of second-level domains on February 11, 2014.
The intent of the domain is to create a uniq ...
" is a top level domain for sites with a connection to the Austrian capital WIEN (Vienna, Austria
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
).
The Austrian broadband market is dominated by the DSL
Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric dig ...
providers, which rapidly overtook cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
as the preferred access method. However, mobile services employing UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the In ...
/HSDPA
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunic ...
and LTE are rapidly gaining ground due to fierce market competition. SDSL and optical fiber
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass ( silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a mea ...
access is also available.
The main ISP's in Austria are:
* Telekom Austria
A1 Telekom Austria Group is a provider of a range of fixed-line, broadband Internet, multimedia services, data, and IT systems, wholesale as well as mobile payment services. It is a subsidiary of Mexican telecommunications conglomerate América M ...
(incumbent)
* UPC, bought by T-Mobile
T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...
Austria in 2018.
* Tele2, acquired by mobile operator Hutchison Drei Austria also in 2018.
* kabel''Plus'', offering cable services in the area around Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and
* next layer, offering fiber and data center services to business customers only.
Typical speeds are up to 30Mbit/s download and 5Mbit/s upload over DSL (up to 50Mbit/s download over VDSL), and up to 250Mbit/s download and 25Mbit/s upload over cable.
There are also a number of smaller locally centered ISPs typically providing services in a city, district, or state over their own infrastructure. Most are also able to deliver services Austria wide by using resold Telekom Austria lines/capacity with value added services such as static IP addresses and IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. IPv ...
. Notable are:
* Hotze.com in Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
* Liwest in Upper Austria,
* Salzburg AG in the state of Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
.
Some ISPs offer up to 250Mbit speed over DOCSIS
Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) is an international telecommunications standard that permits the addition of high-bandwidth data transfer to an existing cable television (CATV) system. It is used by many cable televisio ...
3.0 or FTTH
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber op ...
:
* UPC Fiber Power (in most bigger cities Austria wide, up to 250Mbit/s download and 25Mbit/s upload) over a FTTB
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber optic ...
variation with coaxial cable as in-house cabling / Blizznet (in some districts of Vienna, up to 100Mbit download and 100Mbit upload) as Fiber to the Home
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber opt ...
(FTTH).
* Business/Datacenter Internet connections and carrier up links with speeds up to 100Gbit/s as well as wavelength and dark fiber services for data transport in and between cities are available as well, with the main connection point being Vienna, where most carriers have one or more POPs in their own or carrier neutral datacenters.
Flat rate plans are the most common for fixed broadband service. Some cable and DSL contracts offer price reductions for university students. A data transfer limit does not apply for most plans.
Some ISPs offer flat rates for mobile access. Data transfer limits apply to most mobile broadband access which is usually shaped to a certain speed after the data transfer limit is reached.
Internet censorship and surveillance
In August 2014, IFPI Austria
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...
has requested Internet blocking for several file sharing web sites such as The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay (sometimes abbreviated as TPB) is an online index of digital content of entertainment media and software. Founded in 2003 by Swedish think tank Piratbyrån, The Pirate Bay allows visitors to search, download, and contribute ma ...
and isoHunt, starting the latest August 14, 2014 (postponed from August 1, 2014). This procedure has been heavily criticized in the media, as there is no formal procedure for unblocking such IPs ever again, and no formal review process that incorrect blocks cannot be obtained. Users sharing an IP may be blocked as a side effect, too.
, Austrian ISPs are now once again free to unblock all previously blocked sites after the government appealed a new law for file sharing similar to the one in Switzerland. Although the IFPI is still trying to challenge this ruling.
There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
or Internet chat
Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet that offers a real-time transmission of text messages from sender to receiver. Chat messages are generally short in order to enable other participants to respond quickly. Ther ...
rooms without appropriate legal authority. Individuals and groups engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Authorities work to restrict access to Web sites containing information that violates the law, such as neo-Nazi and child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a ...
sites. Authorities restrict access to banned Web sites by trying to shut such sites and forbidding the country's Internet service providers to carry them.["Austria"]
''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
The Austrian constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combine to ensure freedom of speech and the press. The independent media are active and express a wide variety of views with few restrictions. Individuals generally criticize the government publicly or privately without reprisal. The law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice.[
The law prohibits incitement, insult, or contempt against a group because of its members’ race, nationality, or ethnicity if the statement violates human dignity and the government strictly enforces these laws. The law prohibits public denial, belittlement, approval, or justification of the Nazi genocide or other Nazi crimes against humanity in a print publication, a broadcast, or other media and the government strictly enforces these laws. Strict libel and ]slander
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 discourage reporting of governmental abuse. For example, many observers believed that the ability and willingness of the police to sue for libel or slander discourages individuals from reporting abuse by police.[
On 31 July 2012, a 26-year-old man received an 18-month sentence, of which 12 months were to be served, for posting that his favorite book was ]Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
’s '' Mein Kampf'' and linking to Nazi material on his Facebook page.[
In February 2007 Austrian authorities were able to uncover a " child-pornography ring" involving seventy-seven countries, based on a report by a man working for a Vienna-based Internet file-hosting service.
As of March 2022 the websites of RT have been blocked by the major Internet service providers.
In August 2022, ISPs were ordered to block further domains, as well as individual IP addresses belonging to CDN providers. The latter rendered a large number of websites to become unavailable.]
Radio and television
* There are 2 AM, 160 FM and 1 shortwave radio broadcast stations, with several hundred FM repeaters.
* There were 6.08 million radios in Austria in 1997.
* There are 45 broadcast television stations, with in excess of 1000 repeaters.
* There were 4.25 million televisions in the country in 1997.
The largest broadcasting corporations are:
* Österreichischer Rundfunk
('Austrian Broadcasting Corporation'; ORF) is an Austrian national public broadcaster. Funded from a combination of television licence fee revenue and limited on-air advertising, ORF is the dominant player in the Austrian broadcast media. Aus ...
(ORF), Austria's public broadcaster, was the main broadcast source until commercial radio and TV service was introduced in the 1990s.[
* ATV, privately held
* ]Puls 4
Puls 4 is a terrestrial television channel in Austria. As its name implies, it is the fourth Austrian-wide full-service television channel, behind ORF eins, ORF 2, and ATV.
History
Puls 4 began as a local Vienna television station called "Puls ...
, privately held
* Servus TV
ServusTV is a TV station based in Wals-Siezenheim in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg.
Its name is derived from the popular greeting servus common in many parts of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. Together with the mag ...
, privately held
See also
* Alpes Adria Internet Exchange (AAIX), a non-profit exchange located in Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...
, Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.
* Area codes in Austria
* Freinberg Transmitter
The Freinberg Transmitter is a broadcasting transmitter on the Freinberg near Linz. It was established in 1928 as medium wave broadcasting station and used until 1936 a T-antenna, which hung up on two guyed masts, which were 45 metres tall.
In 19 ...
* List of radio stations in Austria and Liechtenstein
This is a list of radio stations operating in Austria. The Austrian regulatory agency (''Kommunikationsbehörde Austria'') acts as frequency assignment authority.
Austria Public broadcasting
*ORF (''Österreichischer Rundfunk'')
** Österreich 1
...
* Telephone numbers in Austria
This article details the use of telephone numbers in Austria.
There are no standard lengths for either area codes or subscriber numbers in Austria, meaning that some subscriber numbers may be as short as three digits. Larger towns have shorter ...
References
*
*
External links
*
Alpes Adria Internet Exchange website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telecommunications In Austria
Internet in Austria