Telecommunications in Rwanda
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Telecommunications in Rwanda include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
Radio and television
Radio stations: 0 AM, 8 FM, two main FM programs are broadcast through a system of repeaters, three international FM programs include the BBC, VOA, and DW-World, 1 shortwave (2005).
Radios: 601,000 (1997).[needs update]
Television stations: Two (2004).
Television sets: NA; probably less than 1,000 (1997).[needs update]
Telephones
Main lines: 23,200 lines in use (2002).
Mobile cellular: 6.0 million lines (2013).
- In January 2006, there was one provider, MTN Rwandacell with over 200,000 subscribers; Terracom/Rwandatel was poised to enter the market in early 2006. Government investment in the Rwandan telecommunication sector was growing and had been successful so far.[1]
Telephone system: telephone system primarily serves business and government.
- domestic: the capital, Kigali, is connected to the centers of the prefectures by microwave radio relay; the remainder of the network depends on wire and HF radiotelephone; Kigali, and several provincial capitals have cellular phone services.
- international: international connections employ microwave radio relay to neighboring countries and satellite communications to more distant countries.
- Satellite earth stations: 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) in Kigali includes telex and telefax service.
Internet
Internet users: 25,000 users (2002).
Internet Service Providers: 4 ISPs (2005).[2]
Internet censorship and surveillance
Rwanda has not been individually classified by the OpenNet Initiative, but is rated "partly free" in Freedom on the Net 2011 by Freedom House with a score of 50, somewhat past the midway point between the end of the range for "free" (30) and the start of the range for "not free" (60).[3]
There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet. Individuals and groups engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Internet cafes are common and used regularly in the largest towns, but the Internet is generally unavailable in rural areas, where the majority of the population lives. Laws prohibiting divisionism, genocide ideology, and genocide denial and forbidding "contempt for the Head of State of Rwanda" promote self-censorship. Expression of these viewpoints sometimes results in arrest, harassment, or intimidation.[4]
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.
- ^ "Rwanda: After a decade of remarkable progress, the small Central African nation has been reborn", Summit Communications, 12 March 2006. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
- ^ http://www.rinex.org.rw/members/ [dead link]
- ^ "Country Report: Rwanda", Freedom on the Net 2011, Freedom House, April 2011.
- ^ "Rwanda", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2010, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 8 April 2011.
External links
- Rwanda Information Communication and Technology Association (RICTA), manager of the .rw domain.
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