Telecommunications in Albania

Template:Short description Template:Economy of Albania Telecommunications in Albania include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

History

Until 1990, Albania was extremely isolated and controlled, and installation and maintenance of a modern system of international and domestic telecommunications was precluded.<ref name=":0">Template:Citation-attribution</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Callers previously needed operator assistance even to make domestic long-distance calls.<ref name=":0" />

As of 1992, Albania's telephone density was the lowest in Europe, at 1.4 units for every 100 inhabitants.<ref name=":0" /> Tirana accounted for about 13,000 of the country's 42,000 direct lines; Durrës, the main port city, ranked second with 2,000 lines; the rest were concentrated in Shkodër, Elbasan, Vlorë, Gjirokastër, and other towns.<ref name=":0" /> At one time, each village had a telephone but during the land redistribution of the early 1990s peasants knocked out service to about 1,000 villages by removing telephone wire for fencing.<ref name=":0" /> As of 1992, most of Albania's telephones were obsolete, low-quality East European models, some dating from the 1940s; workers at a Tirana factory assembled a small number of telephones from Italian parts.<ref name=":0" />

In the early 1990s, Albania had 240 microwave circuits carrying international calls to Italy and 180 to Greece.<ref name=":0" /> The Albanian telephone company had also installed two U-20 Italtel digital exchanges.<ref name=":0" /> The exchange in Tirana handled international, national, and local calls; the Durrës exchange handled only local calls.<ref name=":0" /> Two United States firms handled direct-dial calls from the United States to Tirana.<ref name=":0" />

At presentTemplate:When the land lines are overloaded, and it is difficult to receive a telephone number. As a result, the number of mobile phones has skyrocketed in the bigger cities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Radio and television

• Radio stations:
  • 2 public radio networks and roughly 25 private radio stations; several international broadcasters are available (2010);<ref name=CIAWFB-Albania-2014>"Communications: Albania", World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 15 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.</ref>
  • FM 56 (3 national, 53 local), shortwave 1 (2008).
• Radios: 1 million (2001).Template:Update after
• Television stations:
  • 3 public TV networks, one of which transmits by satellite to Albanian-language communities in neighboring countries; more than 60 private TV stations; many viewers can pick up Italian and Greek TV broadcasts via terrestrial reception; cable TV service is available (2010);<ref name=CIAWFB-Albania-2014/>
  • 76 (3 national, 73 local); note - 3 cable networks (2008).
• Television sets: 1 million (2008).Template:Update after

The state broadcaster in Albania, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSh, Albanian Radio and TV), operates national radio and television networks. It has competition from scores of privately owned stations.<ref name=BBCNewsProfile-Albania-Dec2012>"Albania profile: Media", BBC News, 20 December 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2014.</ref> According to a 2002 survey the broadcaster with the largest audience is TV Klan.Template:Update after

Television is the most influential medium. Many Albanians watch Italian and Greek stations via terrestrial reception.<ref name=BBCNewsProfile-Albania-Dec2012/>

The BBC World Service (103.9 MHz in the capital, Tirana), Deutsche Welle, Radio France Internationale, and the Voice of America are available.<ref name=BBCNewsProfile-Albania-Dec2012/>

Telephones

• Calling code: +355<ref name=CIAWFB-Albania-2014/>
• International call prefixes: 069,068,067<ref>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.</ref>
• Main lines:
  • 197,690 (2021)
• Mobile cellular:
  • 2,635,466 (2021)
• Telephone system: Albania’s small telecom market has experienced some significant changes in recent years;  upgrades were made to the fixed-line infrastructure to support broadband services; fixed-line telephony use and penetration in Albania is declining steadily as subscribers migrate to mobile solutions; the mobile sector is well provided with LTE networks, while operators have invested in 5G; some of these efforts have been made in conjunction with neighboring Kosovo, with the intention of a seamless 5G corridor along the highway connecting the two countries; the country has long sought accession to the European Union (EU) which has benefited its telecoms sector through closer scrutiny of its regulatory regime and through the injection of funding to help modernize infrastructure (2021) <ref name=CIAWFB-Albania-2014/>
• Satellite earth stations: unknown.Template:Update afterTemplate:Clarify
• Communications cables: Submarine cables provide connectivity to Italy, Croatia, and Greece; the Trans-Balkan Line, a combination submarine and land fiber-optic system between Albania and Italy, provides additional connectivity to Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Turkey (2011).<ref name=CIAWFB-Albania-2014/> Two other cable systems serving Albania are the ADRIA-1 (Croatia, Albania, Greece) and the Italy-Albania.<ref>"Greg's Cable Map", Greg Mahlknecht, 19 December 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.</ref>

Internet

• Top-level domain: .al<ref name=CIAWFB-Albania-2014/>
• Internet users:
  • 2.291 million users, 132nd in the world; (2021).<ref name=NIUCalc>Calculated using penetration rate and population data from "Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2012" Template:Webarchive, Population data, International Programs, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved 26 June 2013</ref><ref name=ITU-IndividualsUsingTheInternet>"Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000–2012", International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013, retrieved 22 June 2013</ref>
• Fixed broadband: 148,882 subscriptions, 91st in the world; 5.0% of population, 103rd in the world (2012).<ref name=NIUCalc/><ref name="FixedBroadbandITUDynamic2012">"Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Template:Webarchive, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.</ref>
• Wireless broadband: 552,676 subscriptions, 90th in the world; 18.4% of the population, 74th in the world (2012).<ref name="MobleBroadbandITUDynamic2012">"Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Template:Webarchive, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.</ref>
• Internet hosts: 15,528 hosts, 124th in the world (2012).<ref name=CIAWFB-Albania-2014/>
• IPv4: 323,840 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 3.4 addresses per 1000 people (2012).<ref>Select Formats Template:Webarchive, Country IP Blocks. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Site is said to be updated daily.</ref><ref>Population Template:Webarchive, The World Factbook, United States Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Data are mostly for 1 July 2012.</ref>
• Internet service providers: 10 ISPs (2001). (2 with national coverage and 8 providers with domestic coverage)

Providers with national coverage:

• One Albania
• Vodafone Albania

Defunct providers:

• ALBtelecom
• Plus
• AMC (part of Cosmote)

Internet broadband services were initiated in 2005, but growth has been slow. Internet cafes are popular in Tirana and have started to spread outside the capital.<ref name="CIAWFB-Albania-2014" />

Eutelsat satellite broadband is being used to provide free public Internet access in rural Albanian post offices, schools, and local government offices.<ref>"Eutelsat satellite broadband selected for free public internet access in Albania", Press release (PR/61/12), Tring Communications, 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2014.</ref><ref>"Eutelsat Wins Significant Government Broadband Contract in Albania", Jeffrey Hill, Via Satellite integrating Satellite Today, 3 October 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2014.</ref>

Internet censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without appropriate legal authority. The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. However, there are reports that the government and businesses influence and pressure the media. The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice.<ref>"Albania", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 18 April 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.</ref>

See also

• BBC Albanian service
• Media of Albania
• Economy of Albania

References

• Template:CIA World Factbook
• File:PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from publications of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
• Template:US DOS

External links

• Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications (AKEP), Template:In lang
• Projekt Strategjia e Republikës së Shqipërisë për kalimin nga transmetimet analoge në ato numerikeTemplate:Dead link Template:In lang ("Draft Strategy of the Republic of Albania for the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting"), Këshilli Kombëtar i Radios dhe Televizionit (KKRT) (National Council of Radio and Television). English translation.
• Template:Cite web