Telecommunications in Eritrea are under the authority of the

Government of Eritrea The politics of Eritrea and the government of Eritrea take place in the framework of a One-party state, single-party Presidential system, presidential republic currently under a Totalitarianism, totalitarian dictatorship. The President of Eri ...

Infrastructure

The Eritrea Telecommunication Services Corporation, more commonly known as ''EriTel'', is the sole operator of both landline and mobile telephone communication infrastructure in

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. However, it is one of several

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

s in the country. The domestic telecommunications infrastructure is very inadequate. Most fixed line telephones are located in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

, the capital and largest city. Cell phones are in increasing use throughout the country. The government is seeking international tenders to improve the system. On 13 April 2006, Eritrea received a soft loan from the government of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

to upgrade their communication infrastructure. The total sum loaned to EriTel was $23 million. All major cities are connected to the mobile telephone system in Eritrea except for

Assab Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea. Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar language, Afar, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, and Arabic. After the Ita ...

, as of 2023.

Telephone

* Fixed phones in use: 58,500 lines, 159th in the world (2011)."Eritrea"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 31 November 2013. * Mobile cellular phones in use: 241,900 lines, 175th in the world (2011). * Combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership is less than 5 per 100 persons (2011). * International country code: 291.

Radio and television

* The government controls all broadcast media with private ownership prohibited. Purchases of satellite dishes and subscriptions to international broadcast media are permitted. * Radio networks: 2 state-owned (2007). * TV stations: 1 state-owned (2007).

Internet

* Internet users: 48,692 users, 180th in the world; 0.8% of the population, 211th in the world (2012)."Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2012"
International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013, retrieved 22 June 2013 * Fixed broadband: 122 subscriptions, 192nd (last) in the world; 0.0% of the population, 192nd (last) in the world (2012)."Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU: * * is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information ...

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. * Mobile broadband: unknown."Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. * Internet hosts: 701 hosts, 177th in the world (2012). * Internet service providers (ISPs): 4 (2005) - EriTel, CTS, TFanus, Ewan. *

Country code A country code is a short alphanumeric identification code for countries and dependent areas. Its primary use is in data processing and communications. Several identification systems have been developed. The term ''country code'' frequently re ...

: ER *

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 i ...

: .er

Internet censorship and surveillance

* Listed as Under Surveillance by

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

(RWB) in 2008, 2009, not in 2010, and again from 2011 to 2012.''Internet Enemies''
, Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 12 March 2012 Eritrea has not set up a widespread automatic Internet filtering system, but it does not hesitate to order blocking of several diaspora websites critical of the regime. Access to these sites is blocked by two of the Internet service providers, Erson and Ewan, as are

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

websitesand

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...

is said to be widespread."Countries under surveillance: Eritrea"
, Reporters Without Borders, March 2011

References

External links

GSM World page on Eritrea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telecommunications In Eritrea