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

Radio and television

Per 1,000 inhabitants, there were 50 TV sets and 137 radio sets in Namibia in 2008. *

Radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of 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 land-based radio sta ...

:"Communications: Namibia"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 7 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014. ** State-run radio service broadcasts in multiple languages; about a dozen private radio stations; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2007); ** AM 2, FM 39, shortwave 4 (2001); ** AM 2, FM 34, shortwave 5 (1998). Since Independence in 1990, Namibia has seen a dramatic growth in radio stations, with both commercial (for instance Radio 99, Radio Wave, Radio Energy, Omulunga Radio, West Coast FM, etc.) and community (

UNAM Radio UNAM Radio is the radio station of the University of Namibia. It broadcasts on 97.4 FM and is based in Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, ...

, Katutura Community Radio, etc.) receiving licences. Most of these stations broadcast various types of music format, and political discussions, news and phone-in programs remain mostly the domain of the national broadcaster (NBC) which broadcasts nine radio services nationally (in various Namibian languages, including German - the only full-time German service outside of Europe), plus the new !Ha service, broadcasting to the San community in

Tsumkwe Tsumkwe ( Juǀ'Hoan: Tjumǃkui) is a settlement in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia and the district capital of the Tsumkwe electoral constituency. Nature and wildlife The area associated with Tsumkwe exhibits notable vegetation and wildlife. ...

. *

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 ear ...

: 1 private and 1 state-run TV station; satellite and cable TV service is available; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2007). The television network with the widest transmission range is the

Namibian Broadcasting Corporation The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) ( af, Namibiese Uitsaai-Korporasie, ''NUK'') is the public broadcaster of Namibia. It was established in 1979, under the name South West African Broadcasting Corporation (SWABC). History Radio was ori ...

(NBC, not to be confused with the American

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

network). The NBC is the successor to the South Africa–run South West African Broadcasting Corporation (SWABC), which was modeled on the original

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's stat ...

. Like the radio services of the NBC, the television service tries to cater to all the linguistic audiences in Namibia, although the dominant language is English (Namibia's official language). The commercial "free to air" station is

One Africa Television One Africa Television is a Namibian free-to-air television station founded in 2003. It was founded by Paul van Schalkwyk in 2003, which was the first private television network in the country. In 2020, it was bought by TribeFire Studius Group. ...

, the successor to the now defunct TV Africa. It has expanded its transmitter network and is now available in most major towns and cities in Namibia. In 2007 it commenced broadcasting a local television news bulletin each evening. The

Trinity Broadcasting Network The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...

(TBN) is a religion television station, with some material originating locally, although also carrying relays from the United States. It is based in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

and holds a community television licence granted in 2001.

Telephones

* Calling code: +264 *

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 phone call. In the dialling sequence, the prefix precedes the country calling code (and, fur ...

: 00 * Main lines in use: ** 144,575 lines, 126th in the world (2019); ** 171,000 lines (2012); ** 140,000 lines (2008); ** 127,900 lines (2004); ** 110,200 lines (2000); ** 100,848 lines (1997). * Mobile cellular: ** 2.92 million lines, 142nd in the world (2019); ** 2.4 million lines (2012); ** 1.1 million lines (2008); ** 450,000 lines (2006); ** 495,000 lines (2005); ** 82,000 lines (2000 estimate); ** 20,000 lines (1998). * Telephone system: good system; core fiber-optic network links most centers and connections are now digital; multiple mobile-cellular providers with a combined subscribership of more than 100 telephones per 100 persons; fiber-optic cable to South Africa, microwave radio relay link to Botswana, direct links to other neighboring countries (2010). * Communications cables: connected to the African Coast to Europe (ACE) and the

West Africa Cable System The West Africa Cable System (WACS) is a submarine communications cable linking South Africa with the United Kingdom along the west coast of Africa that was constructed by Alcatel-Lucent. The cable consists of four fibre pairs and is 14,530& ...

(WACS) submarine cables, as well as the South African Far East (SAFE) submarine cable through

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

(2010). * Satellite earth stations: 4 Intelsat (2010).

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 ...

.na .na is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Namibia corresponding to the two letter code from the ISO-3166 standard. The registry accredits both Namibian and foreign registrars. Registrars access the Registry and register domai ...

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 ...

: 1,291,944 users, 134th in the world; 51% of the population (2019).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: 61,698 subscriptions, 131st in the world (2019)."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 ...

: 624,257 subscriptions, 86th in the world; 28.8% of the population, 56th in the world (2012)."Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. * Internet hosts: 78,280 hosts, 84th in the world (2012). * IPv4: 199,168 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 92.0 addresses per 1000 people (2012).

Telecom Namibia Telecom Namibia Limited, commonly known as Telecom Namibia, is a telecommunications service provider operating in Namibia. It is the national telecommunications operator, established in August 1992 and wholly owned by the Government of Namibia. ...

, which has offered

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...

access since late 2006, has a de facto monopoly on ADSL access. Their monopoly was unsuccessfully challenged in the courts by MWeb Namibia in May 2007 and again in August 2011. In February 2007, ISP Namibia Mweb began offering broadband wireless services through

WiMax Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The WiMAX ...

, making

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

the second African country (after

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

) to do so.http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2007/0702121031.asp?S=Mobile%20and%20Wireless%20Technology&A=MAW&O=FPQQ#1

Internet censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet; however, the Communications Act provides that the intelligence services can monitor

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 ...

and Internet usage with authorization from any magistrate. There have been some allegations and rumors that the government reviewed ways to block or curtail social media sites, but there is no concrete evidence of such action."Namibia"
''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2014. The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the

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 ...

, and the government generally respects these rights.

References

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External links