Editing Telecommunications in Bolivia

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
'''Telecommunications in Bolivia''' includes radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

==Radio and television==
{{See also |List of radio stations in South America#Bolivia |List of television stations in Latin America#Bolivia}}

* Radio broadcast stations: AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999).<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook-Bolivia/>
* Television broadcast stations: 48 (1997).<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook-Bolivia/> 
* Bolivia has a large number of radio and TV stations broadcasting with private media outlets dominating.<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook-Bolivia/> There has been a recent, rapid growth of state-owned media, including a network of community radios.<ref name=BBCNews-2012/> State-owned and private radio and TV stations generally operate freely, although both pro-government and anti-government groups have attacked media outlets in response to their reporting (2010).<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook-Bolivia/>

==Telephones==
{{See also |Telephone numbers in Bolivia}}

* [[International calling code]]: 591.<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook-Bolivia>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150910082106/https://www.cia.gov/llibrary/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bl.html "Communications: Bolivia"], ''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 21 April 2015.</ref> 
* Fixed lines: 880,600 lines in use, 80th in the world (2012).<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook-Bolivia/>
* Mobile cellular: 9.494 million telephones, 82nd in the world (2012).<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook-Bolivia/>
* Satellite earth stations: 1 [[Intelsat]] (Atlantic Ocean) (2011).<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook-Bolivia/>

The Bolivian National Telecommunications Company was privatized in 1995 but re-nationalized in 2007; the primary trunk system is being expanded and employs digital [[microwave radio relay]]; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; system operations, reliability, and coverage have steadily improved. Most telephones are concentrated in [[La Paz]], [[Santa Cruz de la Sierra|Santa Cruz]], and other capital cities; mobile-cellular telephone use expanding rapidly and, in 2011, teledensity reached about 80 per 100 persons.<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook-Bolivia/>

==Internet==

* [[List of countries by number of Internet hosts|Internet hosts]]: 180,988 hosts, 75th in the world (2012).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070613003750/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2184rank.html "Internet hosts"], ''CIA World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 2012, accessed 17 June 2013</ref> 
* [[List of countries by number of Internet users|Internet users]]: 3.5 million users, 75th in the world; 34% of the population, 125th in the world (2012).<ref name=ITU-IndividualsUsingTheInternet>[http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2013/Individuals_Internet_2000-2012.xls "Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2012"], International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013, retrieved 22 June 2013</ref>
* [[List of countries by number of broadband Internet subscriptions|Fixed access]]: 111,029 subscriptions, 99th in the world; 1.1% of population, 139th in the world (2014).<ref name=ITU-Stats>[http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx Statistics], [[International Telecommunication Union]] official website.</ref> 	
* [[List of countries by number of broadband Internet subscriptions|Mobile access]]: 690,768 subscriptions, 83rd in the world; 6.7% of the population, 101st in the world (2014).<ref name=ITU-Stats/>
* [[List of countries by Internet connection speeds|Average connection speed]]: 1.1&nbsp;Mbit/s, 54th in the world (2014).<ref name="report">{{cite web |url=http://www.akamai.com/dl/akamai/akamai-soti-q114.pdf?WT.mc_id=soti_Q114 |title=Akamai's State Of The Internet|format=pdf |author=Akamai Technologies |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref>
* [[List of countries by IPv4 address allocation|IPv4 addresses]]: 561,920 (2012).<ref>[https://www.countryipblocks.net/allocation-of-ip-addresses-by-country.php "Allocation of IP addresses by Country"], Country IP Blocks. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Site is said to be updated daily.</ref>
* [[Top-level domain]]: [[.bo]].

===Internet censorship and surveillance===

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet. The [[Constitution of Bolivia|Bolivian constitution]] and law provide for [[freedom of speech]] and [[Freedom of the press|press]]. Although the government generally respects these rights, in at least two cases in 2012, the government used the anti-racism law to restrict both rights.<ref name=USDOS-CRHRP-Bolivia-2012/> Some senior government officials also verbally harassed members of the press corps. Bolivian law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence and the government generally respects these prohibitions, but there have been allegations that the government does not always respect the law. Defamation remains a criminal offence.

* Concerns were raised over a 2010 anti-discrimination law. Its "far-reaching and vague" language could be used to curb and punish legitimate journalism, warned the [[Committee to Protect Journalists]].<ref name=BBCNews-2012>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1210487.stm#media "Bolivia country profile: Media"], ''BBC News''', 2 August 2012.</ref> 
* On 21 October 2012, [[Álvaro García Linera|Vice President Garcia Linera]] stated that the government records the names of people who insult [[Evo Morales|President Morales]] on [[social media]] sites.<ref name=USDOS-CRHRP-Bolivia-2012>[https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204430 "Bolivia"], ''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 20 March 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014.</ref>
* On 23 October 2012, the [[Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal|Constitutional Court]] struck down the [[libel]] law that allowed for detention of one month to four years for a person found guilty of insulting, defaming, or slandering public officials.<ref name=USDOS-CRHRP-Bolivia-2012/>
* On 2016, after the [[Bolivian constitutional referendum, 2016|Constitutional Referendum]], the government considered the win of the option of NO a "dirty game" but it avoid endangering his government decided to cancel a bill to restrict social networks when insulting [[President of Bolivia|President]] [[Evo Morales]] and his acts of corruption (like the Gabriela Zapata's case). But a law is going to be launched in April or May 2016.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==See also==

* [[Agency for the Development of the Information Society]] (ADSIB)

==References==
* {{CIA World Factbook}}
* {{US DOS}}

{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121004130805/http://www.adsib.gob.bo/adsibnueva/ Agency for the Development of the Information Society] (ADSIB)
* [https://www.nic.bo/ NIC Bolivia], registrar for the .bo top-level domain.

{{Americas topic|Telecommunications in}}
{{Telecommunications}}
{{Internet censorship by country}}

[[Category:Communications in Bolivia| ]]
[[Category:Internet in Bolivia|Bolivia]]

[[Category:Telecommunications by country|Bolivia]]
[[Category:Telecommunications in South America by country|Bolivia]]