Internet in the Republic of the Congo
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Telecommunications in the Republic of the Congo include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.


Radio and television

* Radio stations: ** Three state-owned radio stations; several privately owned radio stations; rebroadcasts of several international broadcasters are available (2007);"Communications: Republic of the Congo"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 7 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
** 1 AM, 5 FM, and 1 shortwave stations (1999). * Radios: 341,000 (1997). * Television stations: ** One state-owned and several privately owned TV stations; satellite TV service is available; rebroadcasts of several international broadcasters are available (2007); ** One station (1999). * Television sets: 33,000 (1997). Most citizens obtain their news from local radio or television stations as there are no nationwide radio or television stations."Republic of the Congo"
''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 27 March 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
Stations from nearby
Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...
, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, can be received in
Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...
and rebroadcasts of the BBC (103.8 FM), Radio France Internationale, and the Voice of America are available.


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 ...
: +242 * International call prefix: 00 * Main lines: ** 14,900 lines in use, 196th in the world (2012); ** 21,000 lines in use (1995). * Mobile cellular: ** 40.79 million lines, 38th in the world (2020). ** 1.1 million lines (2007). * Telephone system: primary network consists 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 ...
and
coaxial cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ) is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting shield, with the two separated by a dielectric ( insulating material); many coaxial cables also have a p ...
with services barely adequate for government use; key exchanges are in
Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...
,
Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before t ...
, and
Loubomo Dolisie, known as Loubomo (or Lubomo) between 1975 and 1991, is a city in the western province of Niari in the Republic of the Congo. It is the country's third largest city and an important commercial centre. The city lies on the eastern edge of t ...
; intercity lines frequently out of order; fixed-line infrastructure inadequate providing less than 1 connection per 100 persons; in the absence of an adequate fixed line infrastructure, mobile-cellular subscribership has surged to 90 per 100 persons (2011). * Satellite earth stations: 1
Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...
( Atlantic Ocean) (2011). * Communications cables:
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), a submarine communications cable connecting countries along the west coast of Africa with each other and with the UK.


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 ...
:
.cg .cg is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply eithe ...
*
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 ...
: ** 266,635 users, 145th in the world; 6.1% of the population, 182nd 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
** 245,200 users, 136th in the world (2009). * Fixed broadband: 393 subscriptions, 190th 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. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.
* Wireless broadband: 90,906 subscriptions, 120th in the world; 2.1% of the population, 125th in the world (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 ...
: 45 hosts, 215th in the world (2012). *
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 ...
: 12,288 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 2.8 addresses per 1000 people (2012). * Internet Service Providers (ISPs): Afripa telecom, Airtel Congo, and Ofis computers. A growing proportion of the public, especially youth, are accessing the Internet more frequently and utilizing online social media. However, only the most affluent have Internet access in their own homes; others who accessed it use cybercafes.


Internet censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet, or reports the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms. 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 ...
, and the government generally respects these rights. The law makes certain types of speech illegal, including incitement of ethnic hatred, violence, or civil war. The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions. The government makes no known attempts to collect
personally identifiable information Personal data, also known as personal information or personally identifiable information (PII), is any information related to an identifiable person. The abbreviation PII is widely accepted in the United States, but the phrase it abbreviates ha ...
via the Internet. Succeeding Congo's independence, the constitutions of former presidents Abbe Fulbert Youlou (1960-1963) and Alphonse Massamba-Debat (1963–68) offered these guaranteed freedoms. Post-colonial administrations in practice relied on implicit bans and seize of images distributed by Congolese revolutionaries and oppositions. Restrictive censorship was especially uncompromising towards the foreign press, which was meticulously scrutinized during legislation creation. Order number 2294 prohibits the circulation of publishings by foreign origins including pamphlets, journal writings, or any association as such. Occasional success in overcoming newspaper censorship can be seen in the case of La Semaine Africaine, which consistently expresses notable messages representative of the ‘revolutionary press’. Unsuccessful efforts, however, are more common in Congo print, as seen by the failures of The Voice of the Congolese Revolution, the weekly Basali-ba-Kongo and Dipanda, and the National Youth Movement for the Revolution.


Intentional Shutdowns

The Congolese government performed a series of intentional internet shutdowns. The first was conducted in December 2011 and lasted approximately 25 days. During the 25 days, Short Message Service otherwise known as SMS was the only one affected by the shutdown. According to an article by CIPESA, "One of the reasons cited by the government for blocking communication was to prevent the spread of fake results over the internet before the electoral commission announced official results" Unlike the first shutdown the second intentional shutdown had a broader range of impact.The second intentional shutdown occurred in January 2015. The Congolese government directed telecommunication companies within the country to halt all its services. Not only was SMS affected, but the entire internet itself. This action by the government came on the eve of political protest on a proposed electoral bill. The most recent government shutdown occurred on December 19, 2016. This was an important date as President Joseph Kabila was supposed to step down as head of state. In order to quell, political upheaval the Congolese government ordered telecom operators to block social media in the country.


See also

*
Radiodiffusion Télévision Congolaise The Radiodiffusion Télévision Congolaise is the national broadcaster of the Central African state of Republic of the Congo. Télévision Congolaise is headquartered in the capital city Brazzaville. See also * Media of the Republic of the Cong ...
, state-owned national broadcaster of the Republic of the Congo. *
Media of the Republic of the Congo Mass media in the Republic of the Congo are severely restricted by many factors, including widespread illiteracy and economic underdevelopment. The Congolese depend primarily on radio for information. This is mainly due to high illiteracy rates. Ac ...
*
List of radio stations in Africa Radio stations in African countries can be categorized into three main areas: public, commercial, and community. The management of these radio stations is subject to each region's preferred methods. Algeria Entreprise nationale de Radiodiffusi ...
*
List of television stations in Africa This is a list of television stations in Africa. Many African countries have various television stations both public and private in nature. The management of these stations vary across countries. In some parts of Africa, radio is a more common form ...
* List of terrestrial fibre optic cable projects in Africa


References

* *


External links


NIC.cg
registry for .cg domain.
"ICT Policy in Congo"
''Africa ICT Policy Monitor'', Association for Progressive Communications (APC), March 2009.
"Republic of the Congo country report"
''CIA World Factbook''. {{Congo-Brazzaville topics