Telecommunications in Zimbabwe

Communications in Zimbabwe refers to the communication services available in Zimbabwe.

Telephone system

The phone system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; more than 100,000 outstanding requests for connection despite an equally large number of installed but unused main lines.

Main lines in use: 344,500 in 2007

Domestic: consists of microwave radio relay links, open-wire lines, radiotelephone communication stations, fixed wireless local loop installations, and a substantial mobile cellular network; Internet connection is available in Harare and planned for all major towns and for some of the smaller ones

International: Satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; two international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru)

Mobile cellular: 1,226,000 in 2007

Radio

Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 4 (plus 17 repeater stations), shortwave 1. Acts as the primary communication for largely rural population. All stations are stringently controlled by the government run ZBC (2002)

Radios: 1.14 million (1997)

Television

Television broadcast stations: only one state-controlled propaganda station ZBC, as government has shut down and refuses to issue licenses to domestic independent broadcasters such as JoyTV in 2002

Televisions: 370,000 (1997)

Internet

Main article: Internet in Zimbabwe

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 6 (2000), 10 (1999)

In 2007, there were 1.351 million internet users. In June 2004 Mugabe asked ISPs to monitor all email traffic passing through their systems for "anti-national activities". ISPs protest that this is an impossible task.

Country code (Top level domain): .zw

See also

• Media of Zimbabwe

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.

External Links

• 'Media and Telecommunication Lansdcape in Zimbabwe', a 'infoasaid' guide, September 2011, 76 pp.