Telecommunications in Guinea-Bissau include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world. This reality is reflected in the state of the country's telecommunications development. It is estimated that in 2012 there were only 5000 fixed telephone lines serving the country's 1.6 million inhabitants and that only 2.9% of the population had access to and were regular users of the Internet.

Radio and television

* Radio stations: ** One state-owned radio station (

Guinea-Bissau National Radio The National Broadcasting of Guinea-Bissau (RDN; in Portuguese: ''Radiodifusão Nacional da Guiné-Bissau''), also known only as National Radio (in Portuguese: ''Rádio Nacional''), is a public broadcasting company in Guinea-Bissau, whose head off ...

), several private radio stations, and some community radio stations; multiple international broadcasters are available (2007);"Communications: Guinea-Bissau"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 28 January 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014. ** One AM, four FM, and no

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

(2001). * Radios: 49,000 (1997). * Television stations: One state-owned TV station (

Guinea-Bissau Television Guinea-Bissau Television ('' pt, Televisão da Guiné-Bissau'', or TGB) is the state television of the African country of Guinea-Bissau. The headquarters are in the capital city of Bissau. The station's main transmitter is located in Nhacra and co ...

) and a second station, Radio e Televisao de Portugal África (RTP África), operated by Portuguese public broadcaster (RTP) (2007). Private radio stations operate alongside the state-run broadcaster. Broadcasters face many challenges, not least the lack of a reliable power supply. The media experience "harsh treatment" from the authorities, security forces, and individuals with connections to the military and drug traffickers. A climate of fear has led to

self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse. This is done out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities or preferences (actual or perceived) of others and without overt pressure from any specific party or insti ...

among the media, which particularly affects reporting on drug trafficking."Guinea-Bissau profile: Media"
''BBC News'', 14 March 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2014. Following the 12 April 2012 coup, the junta shut down all private radio stations and the national television station. They allowed only the national broadcaster,

, to broadcast intermittent military communiqués. On 15 April, the junta allowed the stations to reopen, but on 16 April warned them not to criticize the military or the coup or report on protests. These threats continued until 25 May when the civilian government was installed.

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 ...

: +245 * International call prefix: 00 * Main lines: ** 5,000 lines in use, 210th in the world (2012); ** 4,600 lines in use, 214th in the world (2008). * Mobile cellular: ** 1.1 million lines, 156th in the world (2012); ** 500,200 lines, 155th in the world (2008). * Telephone system: small system including a combination of

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 ...

, open-wire lines,

radiotelephone A radiotelephone (or radiophone), abbreviated RT, is a radio communication system for conducting a conversation; radiotelephony means telephony by radio. It is in contrast to '' radiotelegraphy'', which is radio transmission of telegrams (mes ...

, and mobile-cellular communications; fixed-line teledensity is less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity approached 50 per 100 persons (2011).

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 ...

.gw .gw is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Guinea-Bissau. The .gw country code top-level domain was delegated multiple times to different entities. The domain was introduced to the root zone on 4 February 1997, and management ...

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 ...

: ** 47,132 users, 181st in the world; 2.9% of the population, 196th 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 ** 37,100 users, 177th in the world (2009). * Fixed broadband: Unknown (2012)."Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. * Wireless broadband: Unknown (2012)."Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. 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 ...

: ** 90 hosts, 211th in the world (2012); ** 82 hosts, 202nd in the world (2009). *

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 ...

: 5,120 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 3.1 addresses per 1000 people (2012).Population
The World Factbook, United States Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Data are mostly for 1 July 2012.

Internet censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight."Guinea-Bissau"
''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 3 February 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 famil ...

; however, there are reports that the government does not always respect these rights. The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, but the government does not always respect these prohibitions in practice. Police routinely ignore

privacy rights The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 150 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. On 10 December 194 ...

and protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

References

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External links