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

Radio and television

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 ...

: * state-run TV station; 3 private TV stations provide a mix of local and foreign programming (2007);"Communications: Niger"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 28 January 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014. * 5 AM, 6 FM, and 4 shortwave stations (2001).

Radios Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

: * 680,000 (1997); * 500,000 (1992).

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 ...

: state-run TV station; 3 private TV stations provide a mix of local and foreign programming (2007).

Television set A television set or television receiver, more commonly called the television, TV, TV set, telly, tele, or tube, is a device that combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers, for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or using ...

s: * 125,000 (1997); * 37,000 (1992). Because literacy levels in the country are low, radio is a key source for news and information.

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

(RFI) is available in the capital,

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital dis ...

, and in the Maradi and

Zinder Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 (2001 census);

regions. The BBC World Service broadcasts in the capital (100.4 FM).

Press freedom and control

The state controls much of the nation's broadcasting, though private radio stations have proliferated. The media regulatory body, the National Observatory on Communication, and the Independent Nigerien Media Observatory for Ethics, a voluntary media watchdog organization, help to maintain the media environment in Niger. The government maintains a 200 million CFA (~US$400,000) press support fund, established by law and available to all media, to encourage support for education, information, entertainment, and promoting democracy."Niger profile: Media"
''BBC News'', 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2014. Press freedom "improved considerably" after

Mamadou Tandja Mamadou Tandja (1938 – 24 November 2020) was a Nigerien politician who was President of Niger from 1999 to 2010. He was President of the National Movement for the Development Society (MNSD) from 1991 to 1999 and unsuccessfully ran as the MNS ...

was ousted as president in 2010. Media offences were decriminalised shortly afterwards. With the passage of the 2010 law protecting journalists from prosecution related to their work and President Issoufou's November 2011 endorsement of the Declaration of Table Mountain statement on press freedom in Africa (the first head of state to sign the statement), the country continues its efforts to improve press freedom. The Declaration of Table Mountain calls for the repeal of criminal defamation and " insult" laws and for moving press freedom higher on the African agenda.

Telephones

Calling code: +227

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: * 100,500 lines in use, 145th in the world (2012); * 24,000 lines in use, 186th in the world (2005)."Communications: Niger"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 10 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009. Mobile cellular: * 5.4 million lines, 107th in the world (2012); * 900,000 lines, 139th in the world (2007). Telephone system: inadequate; small system of wire,

radio telephone Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

communications, and microwave radio relay links concentrated in the southwestern area of Niger; domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations and 1 planned; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity remains only about 30 per 100 persons despite a rapidly increasing cellular subscribership base (2010); United Nations estimates placed telephone subscribers at 0.2 per hundred in 2000, rising to 2.5 per hundred in 2006.Niger country profile
World Statistics Pocketbook, United Nations Statistics Division, 2007. Satellite earth stations: 2 Intelsat (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 ...

and 1

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 t ...

) (2010). Communications cables: Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) via land links between Niger and the Atlantic coast.

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 ...

.ne .ne is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Niger. Unrelated to the .ne top-level domain, "ne" is sometimes used as a second-level domain within other country-code domains, in which registrants may register second-level domains ...

, controlled by the

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

telecom company, Niger Telecoms.

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 ...

: * 230,084 users, 150th in the world; 1.4% of the population, 205th 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 * 115,900 users, 155th in the world (2009); * 40,000 users, 173rd in the world (2006). Fixed broadband: 3,596 subscriptions, 166th in the world; less than 0.05% of the population, 185th 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 ...

: Unknown (2012)."Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. List of countries by number of Internet hosts, Internet hosts: * 454 hosts, 185th in the world (2012); * 216 hosts, 176th in the world (2008). List of countries by IPv4 address allocation, IPv4: 20,480 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 1.2 addresses per 1000 people (2012). The United Nations estimated that there were only 0.3 Internet users per 100 Nigeriens in 2006, up from less than 0.1 per 100 in 2000. As a point of reference, the Millennium Development Goal for least developed countries by 2015 is 8.2 Internet users per 100 population."Indicator 8.16, Internet users per 100 inhabitants: Niger"
Millennium Development Goals Indicators, United Nations Statistical Division. Retrieved 18 February 2009.

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. Although individuals and groups can engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, few residents have access to it."Niger"
''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2014. The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. The constitution and law generally prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions.

References

* *

External links

Transports et télécoms (Statistical series)
, Institut National de la Statistique, Niger.
Does Digital Divide or Provide? The Impact of Cell Phones on Grain Markets in Niger
Jenny C. Aker, Center for Global Development, Tufts University, 1 October 2008.

(The Nigerian media landscape) , Djilali Benamrane, Afrik.com, 6 March 2002

Niger Information and Communications Technology Assessment
Yaovi Atohoun, Eileen Reynolds, Karl Stanzick, United States Education for Development and Democracy Initiative, 3 May 2001. {{Niger topics Telecommunications in Niger,