Communications in Colombia

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2013)

|

Since being liberalized in 1991, the Colombian telecommunications sector has added new services, expanded coverage, improved efficiency, and lowered costs. The sector has had the second largest (after energy) investment in infrastructure (54 percent) since 1997. However, the economic downturn between 1999 and 2002 adversely affected telecommunications. During this period, Colombia's telecommunications industry lost US$2 billion despite a profit of US$1 billion in local service. In June 2003, the government liquidated the state-owned and heavily indebted National Telecommunications Company (Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones—Telecom) and replaced it with Colombia Telecomunicaciones (Colombia Telecom). The measure enabled the industry to expand rapidly, and in 2004 it constituted 2.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Telefónica of Spain acquired 50 percent plus one share of the company in 2006.[1]

As a result of increasing competition, Colombia has a relatively modern telecommunications infrastructure that primarily serves larger towns and cities. Colombia's telecommunication system includes access to 8 different international Submarine cable systems, Intelsat, 11 domestic satellite Earth stations, and a nationwide microwave radio relay system.[1]

## Telephones

[edit]

The country's teledensity (the density of telephone lines in a community) is relatively high for Latin America (17 percent in 2006). However, there is a steep imbalance between rural and urban areas, with some regions below 10 percent and the big cities exceeding 30 percent. Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali account for about 50 percent of telephone lines in use. By the end of 2005, the number of telephone main lines in use totaled 7,851,649. Colombia Telecom accounted for only about 31 percent of these lines; 27 other operators accounted for the rest.[1]

Colombia's mobile market is one of the fastest-growing businesses in the country. In 1993, the first mobile phone call was made.[2] In mid-2004 mobile telephones overtook fixed lines in service for the first time. By 2005 Colombia had the highest mobile phone density (90 percent) in Latin America, as compared with the region's average density of 70 percent. The number of mobile telephone subscribers totaled an estimated 31 million in 2007, as compared to 21.8 million in 2005 and 6.8 million in 2001.[1]

## Radio and television

[edit]

See also: Media of Colombia

In late 2004, Radio Televisión Nacional de Colombia (RTVC) replaced the liquidated Inravisión (Instituto Nacional de Radio y Televisión) as the government-run radio and television broadcasting service, which oversees three national television stations and five radio companies (which operate about a dozen principal networks). Colombia has about 60 television stations, including seven low-power stations. In 2000 the population had about 11.9 million television receivers in use. Of the approximately 515 radio stations, 454 are AM; 34, FM; and 27, shortwave.[1]

## Undersea Cables

[edit]

As of 2016, Colombia has access to the following international Submarine cable systems: SAC/LAN, Maya-1, AMX-1, Pan Am, SAm-1, ARCOS-1, CFX-1, and PCCS. These cables land at 4 locations in the Caribbean: Barranquilla, Cartagena, Riohacha, and Tolu. One cable lands on the Pacific Ocean coast at Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca.

## Internet

[edit]

Main article: Internet in Colombia

Colombia is still far behind Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina in terms of online usage. It had an estimated total of 900,000 Internet subscribers by the end of 2005, a figure that equated to 4,739,000 Internet users, or 11.5 percent of the 2005 population (10.9 per 100 inhabitants). By late 2009 39% of households had internet access Colombia had 581,877 Internet hosts in 2006. Although as many as 70 percent of Colombians accessed the Internet over their ordinary telephone lines, dial-up access is losing ground to broadband. In 2005 Colombia had 345,000 broadband subscriber lines, or one per 100 inhabitants. In 2006 the number of personal computers per 1,000 people increased to an estimated 87 per 1,000 inhabitants, a rate still below that in other large Latin American economies.[1] The internet country code is .co.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f Colombia country profile. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (February 2007). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
2. ^ "El salto que dieron las telecomunicaciones en el país y que continúa". Portafolio.co (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 August 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* (in Spanish) Colombian Ministry of Communications
* (in Spanish) Comunicate.com.co, Coldecon, Internet Provider

* v
* t
* e

Telecommunications in the Americas

Sovereign
states|

* Antigua and Barbuda
* Argentina
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Canada
* Chile
* Colombia
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Dominica
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* El Salvador
* Grenada
* Guatemala
* Guyana
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* Suriname
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

Dependencies
and territories|

* Anguilla
* Aruba
* Bermuda
* Bonaire
* British Virgin Islands
* Cayman Islands
* Curaçao
* Falkland Islands
* French Guiana
* Greenland
* Guadeloupe
* Martinique
* Montserrat
* Puerto Rico
* Saba
* Saint Barthélemy
* Saint Martin
* Saint Pierre and Miquelon
* Sint Eustatius
* Sint Maarten
* South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
* Turks and Caicos Islands
* U.S. Virgin Islands

* North America
* Central America
* Caribbean
*   *   *   * South America

* v
* t
* e

Colombia articles

History|

* Timeline
* Indigenous peoples
* Muisca Confederation
* Spanish conquest
* Kingdom of New Granada
* Viceroyalty of New Granada
* First Republic of New Granada
* United Provinces of New Granada
* Military career of Simón Bolívar
* Wars of independence
* Gran Colombia (reunification)
* Republic of New Granada
* Granadine Confederation
* United States of Colombia
* Republic of Colombia
* Colombian Civil War of 1895
* Thousand Days' War
* Secession of Panama
* Colombia–Peru War
* World War II
* La Violencia
* National Front
* Colombian conflict
* Colombian peace process

Geography|

* Biodiversity
* Fauna
* Flora
* Climate
* Geology
* Mountains
* Islands
* Rivers
* National parks (Protected Areas)
* Cities and towns
* Natural hazards
* Environmental issues
* Invasive species
* World Heritage Sites

Natural regions|

* Amazon
* Andean
* Caribbean
* Insular
* Orinoquía
* Pacific/Chocó

Subdivisions|

* Departments
* Municipalities
* Metropolitan areas
* Capital District
* Corregimientos
* Indigenous territories

Politics|

* Political parties
* Elections
* Ideologies
* Liberalism
* Conservatism
* Communism

Governance|

* Constitution
* Control
* Auditor General
* Comptroller General
* Inspector General
* Ombudsman
* Executive
* Council of Ministers
* Government agencies
* President
* Vice President
* Foreign relations
* Judiciary
* Congress
* Police

Military|

* Aerospace Force
* Army
* Navy

Economy|

* Central bank
* Companies
* Economic history
* Agriculture
* Industry
* Mineral industry
* Peso (currency)
* Stock exchange
* Science and technology
* Communications
* Taxation
* Trade unions
* Tourism
* Transportation

Society|

* Abortion
* Colombians
* list
* Demographics
* Education
* Languages
* Religion
* Race and ethnicity
* Health care
* Water supply and sanitation
* Women

Culture|

* Archaeological sites
* Architecture
* Art
* Cinema
* Cuisine
* World Heritage Sites
* Carnivals
* Festivals
* Folklore
* Handicrafts
* Literature
* Mass media
* Muisca
* Mythology
* Religion
* Music
* Theater
* National symbols
* Coat of arms
* Flag
* Public holidays
* Freedom of religion in Colombia
* Miss Colombia
* Video games in Colombia
* Sport

Issues|

* Human rights
* Intersex
* LGBTQ
* Immigration
* Emigration
* Poverty
* Smoking
* Crime
* Drug trafficking
* Corruption
* Terrorism
* Guerrilla movements
* Right-wing paramilitarism
* Colombia in popular culture

* Outline
* Index

* Category
* Portal

* v
* t
* e

Internet in Colombia

ISPs|

* ETB
* Telefónica
* UNE
* EMCALI

Mobile Internet Providers|

* Tigo Colombia
* Claro
* Movistar

Related Organizations|

* Ministry of Communications

TLD|

* .co

Popular websites|

| News|

* eltiempo.com
* elespectador.com
* colombiareports.com
* Las2orillas

|

Online radio|

* caracol.com.co
* rcn.com.co
* wradio.com.co
* hjck.com
* lasuperestacion.fm
* bluradio.com

Video sharing|

* Citytv.com.co

Politics|

* La Silla Vacía

Technologies|

* WiMAX in Colombia

* v
* t
* e

Telecommunications

History|

* Beacon
* Broadcasting
* Cable protection system
* Cable TV
* Communications satellite
* Computer network
* Data compression
* audio
* DCT
* image
* video
* Digital media
* Internet video
* online video platform
* social media
* streaming
* Drums
* Edholm's law
* Electrical telegraph
* Fax
* Heliographs
* Hydraulic telegraph
* Information Age
* Information revolution
* Internet
* Mass media
* Mobile phone
* Smartphone
* Optical telecommunication
* Optical telegraphy
* Pager
* Photophone
* Prepaid mobile phone
* Radio
* Radiotelephone
* Satellite communications
* Semaphore
* Phryctoria
* Semiconductor
* device
* MOSFET
* transistor
* Smoke signals
* Telecommunications history
* Telautograph
* Telegraphy
* Teleprinter (teletype)
* Telephone
* The Telephone Cases
* Television
* digital
* streaming
* Undersea telegraph line
* Videotelephony
* Whistled language
* Wireless revolution

Pioneers|

* Nasir Ahmed
* Edwin Howard Armstrong
* Mohamed M. Atalla
* John Logie Baird
* Paul Baran
* John Bardeen
* Alexander Graham Bell
* Emile Berliner
* Tim Berners-Lee
* Francis Blake
* Jagadish Chandra Bose
* Charles Bourseul
* Walter Houser Brattain
* Vint Cerf
* Claude Chappe
* Yogen Dalal
* Donald Davies
* Daniel Davis Jr.
* Amos Dolbear
* Thomas Edison
* Philo Farnsworth
* Reginald Fessenden
* Lee de Forest
* Elisha Gray
* Oliver Heaviside
* Robert Hooke
* Erna Schneider Hoover
* Harold Hopkins
* Gardiner Greene Hubbard
* Bob Kahn
* Dawon Kahng
* Charles K. Kao
* Narinder Singh Kapany
* Hedy Lamarr
* Roberto Landell
* Innocenzo Manzetti
* Guglielmo Marconi
* Robert Metcalfe
* Antonio Meucci
* Samuel Morse
* Jun-ichi Nishizawa
* Charles Grafton Page
* Radia Perlman
* Alexander Stepanovich Popov
* Tivadar Puskás
* Johann Philipp Reis
* Claude Shannon
* Almon Brown Strowger
* Henry Sutton
* Charles Sumner Tainter
* Nikola Tesla
* Camille Tissot
* Alfred Vail
* Thomas A. Watson
* Charles Wheatstone
* Vladimir K. Zworykin
* Internet pioneers

Transmission
media|

* Coaxial cable
* Fiber-optic communication
* optical fiber
* Free-space optical communication
* Molecular communication
* Radio waves
* wireless
* Transmission line
* telecommunication circuit

Network topology
and switching|

* Bandwidth
* Links
* Network switching
* circuit
* packet
* Nodes
* terminal
* Telephone exchange

Multiplexing|

* Space-division
* Frequency-division
* Time-division
* Polarization-division
* Orbital angular-momentum
* Code-division

Concepts|

* Communication protocol
* Computer network
* Data transmission
* Store and forward
* Telecommunications equipment

Types of network|

* Cellular network
* Ethernet
* ISDN
* LAN
* Mobile
* NGN
* Public Switched Telephone
* Radio
* Television
* Telex
* UUCP
* WAN
* Wireless network

Notable networks|

* ARPANET
* BITNET
* CYCLADES
* FidoNet
* Internet
* Internet2
* JANET
* NPL network
* TANet
* Toasternet
* Usenet

Locations|

* Africa
* Americas
* North
* South
* Antarctica
* Asia
* Europe
* Oceania
* Global telecommunications regulation bodies

* Telecommunication portal
* Category
* Outline
* Commons

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template