Telecommunications in Guinea

Telecommunications in Guinea include radio, television, fixed and mobile radio, and the Internet.

The people of Guinea are among the poorest in West Africa[1] and this reality is reflected in the development of the country's telecommunications environment. Radio is the most important source of information for the public in Guinea, and the only one to reach the entire country.

There is a single government-owned radio network, a growing number of private radio stations, and one government TV station. The fixed telephone system is inadequate, with just 18,000 lines to serve the country's 10.5 million inhabitants in 2012. Internet usage is very low, reaching just 1.5% of the population in 2012.

## Radio and television

[edit]

Radio remains the most important source of information for the public,[2] and the only one to reach the entire country.[1] The government licensed the country's first private broadcasters in 2006.[1]

* Radio stations:
* one state-run radio broadcast station, Radio Télévision Guinéenne (RTG); RTG also operates several stations in rural areas; there are a steadily increasing number of privately owned radio stations, nearly all in the capital, Conakry; and about a dozen community radio stations (2011);[3]
* 4 AM, 8 FM, and 3 shortwave (1998).
* Radios: 357,000 (1997).[needs update]
* Television stations:
* one state-run TV station, Radio Télévision Guinéenne (RTG); foreign TV programming is available via satellite and cable subscription services (2011);[3]
* 6 TV stations (1997).
* Television sets: 85,000 (1997).[needs update]

### State censorship

[edit]

The government maintains marginal control over broadcast media,[3] the media laws promulgated following the 2010 democratic transition have not been implemented,[1] and there are reports of state censorship through journalist harassment and station closures. For example:[2]

* On 26 August 2012, the National Communication Council (CNC) suspended private radio station Liberte FM, based in the Forest Region city of N’Zerekore. The closure prevented Liberte FM from covering protests announced by opposition leaders for the following day. The national government allowed Liberty FM to reopen 48 hours later, after the protests concluded.
* On 1 October 2012, Electricity of Guinea cut service to Espace FM, host of the investigative reporting radio program "The Big Mouths." The utility company claimed that Espace FM and its sister station, Sweet FM, collectively owed nearly 150 million GNF ($21,521) for electricity bills, despite the station's possession of payment receipts. Both stations were forced to operate on expensive generator power.
* The government has been accused of penalizing stations and journalists who broadcast items criticizing government officials and their actions. Some journalists accuse government officials of attempting to influence the tone of their reporting with inappropriate pressure and bribes. Some journalists also hire bodyguards, and many practice self-censorship.

## Telephones

[edit]

See also: Telephone numbers in Guinea

* Calling code: +224[3]
* International call prefix: 00[4]
* Main lines:
* 18,000 lines in use, 115th in the world (2012);[3]
* 11,000 lines in use (1995).
* Mobile cellular:
* 12,394 million lines,(2019).[5]
* 790,000 lines (2007).
* Telephone system: inadequate system of open-wire lines, small radiotelephone communication stations, and a new microwave radio relay system; Conakry reasonably well-served; coverage elsewhere remains inadequate and large companies tend to rely on their own systems for nationwide links; fixed-line teledensity less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership is expanding and exceeds 40 per 100 persons (2011).[3]
* Satellite earth stations: 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2011).[3]
* Communications cables: African Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine communications cable, which has a landing point in Conakry, links 23 countries along the west coast of Africa and on to Portugal and France.[6]

## Internet

[edit]

* Top-level domain: .gn[3]
* Internet users:
* 4,563 million users; 38% of the population (2019),[7]
* 3,131 million users; 27% of the population (2017) [7]
* 2,147 million users; 20% of the population (2014)[7]
* Fixed broadband: 762 subscriptions, 183rd in the world; less than 0.05% of population, 189th in the world (2012).[8][9]
* Wireless broadband: Unknown (2012).[10]
* Internet hosts: 15 hosts, 223rd in the world (2012).[3]
* IPv4: 4,096 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 0.4 addresses per 1000 people (2012).[11][12]
* Internet Service Providers: several ISPs including SKYVISON, ETI Bull, and Vizocom.[13]

### Internet censorship and surveillance

[edit]

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight.[2]

The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and of the press, but the government, nevertheless, restricts these freedoms. Libel against the head of state, slander, and false reporting are subject to heavy fines. Some journalists accuse government officials of attempting to influence the tone of their reporting with inappropriate pressure and bribes. Some journalists hire bodyguards, and many practice self-censorship. Although the constitution and law provide for the inviolability of the home and legal searches require judicial search warrants, police reportedly ignore legal procedures in the pursuit of criminal suspects or when it serves their personal interests.[2]

## See also

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* Radio Télévision Guinéenne (RTG), the national broadcaster of Guinea.

## References

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* This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.
* This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State.

1. ^ a b c d "", BBC News, 14 March 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
2. ^ a b c d "Guinea", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 3 April 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Communications: Guinea", World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 28 January 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
4. ^ Dialing Procedures (International Prefix, National (Trunk) Prefix and National (Significant) Number) (in Accordance with ITY-T Recommendation E.164 (11/2010)), Annex to ITU Operational Bulletin No. 994-15.XII.2011, International Telecommunication Union (ITU, Geneva), 15 December 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
5. ^ ARPT OBSERVATOIRE 2019
6. ^ "ACE: Africa Coast to Europe" Archived 2016-03-11 at the Wayback Machine, Orange SA. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
7. ^ a b c [1] ARPT OBSERVATOIRE 2019.
8. ^ Calculated using penetration rate and population data from "Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2012" Archived 2017-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, Population data, International Programs, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved 26 June 2013
9. ^ "Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Archived 2018-01-31 at the Wayback Machine, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.
10. ^ "Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Archived 2018-01-31 at the Wayback Machine, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.
11. ^ Select Formats Archived 2009-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, Country IP Blocks. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Site is said to be updated daily.
12. ^ Population, The World Factbook, United States Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Data are mostly for 1 July 2012.
13. ^ "Home". Vizocom - Leading ICT, Security, VSAT Internet, Cyber Security, Supply Chain in the Middle East, Africa. Retrieved 2023-10-07.

## External links

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* .gn domain registration website.

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Guinea articles

History|

* Regional history
* Songhai Empire
* Imamate of Futa Jallon
* Wassoulou Empire
* African slave trade
* French West Africa
* Rivières du Sud
* French Guinea
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* Guinea-Bissau War of Independence
* Portuguese invasion
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* 1984 coup d'état
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Telecommunications in Africa

Sovereign states|

* Algeria
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States with limited
recognition

* Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
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Dependencies and
other territories

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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
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* Electrical telegraph
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* Information Age
* Information revolution
* Internet
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* 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
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* Oceania
* Global telecommunications regulation bodies

* Telecommunication portal
* Category
* Outline
* Commons

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Internet censorship and surveillance by country

Africa|

* Algeria
* Angola
* Botswana
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Congo DR
* Congo RO
* Egypt
* Eritrea
* Ethiopia
* Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* Kenya
* Lesotho
* Liberia
* Libya
* Madagascar
* Malawi
* Mauritania
* Morocco (Western Sahara)
* Mozambique
* Namibia
* Niger
* Nigeria
* Rwanda
* Senegal
* Sierra Leone
* Somalia
* South Africa
* Sudan
* Swaziland
* Tanzania
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

Americas|

* Argentina
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Canada
* Chile
* Colombia
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* El Salvador
* Greenland
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* Guyana
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Peru
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* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States
* Puerto Rico
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

Asia|

* Afghanistan
* Bahrain
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* Bhutan
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* China
* East Timor
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* India
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* Vietnam
* Yemen

Europe|

* Albania
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* Germany (YouTube video blocking)
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* Poland
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* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom

Oceania|

* Australia
* Fiji
* New Zealand
* Papua New Guinea

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