Telecommunications in Paraguay

Telecommunications in Paraguay are meager. Paraguay has the lowest fixed-line telephone density in South America, with 5.6 lines per 100 residents, compared with 8.7 per 100 in Bolivia, 21.9 in Brazil, and 24.9 in Argentina.

Telephones The state-owned Corporación Paraguaya de Comunicaciones (Copaco) is known for inefficiency and overstaffing. Privatization was attempted in 2002, but failed in the midst of the banking scandal.

With only 5.6 percent of the population having access to a land-line connection, the meager telephone network has resulted in rapid growth in mobile phone use.Paraguay country profile. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (October 2005). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain."Paraguay", The World Factbook, US Central Intelligence Agency, 11 September 2012. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

An extremely deprived and meager telephone service; Principal switching center is Asunción Domestic: microwave radio relay network International: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) in 2009 International country code: 595 Fixed telephone subscriptions: 364,557; 6.1% of the population in 2011"Fixed-telephone subscriptions 2000-2011", International Telecommunication Union (ITU), retrieved 24 September 2012 Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions: 6,529,053; 99.4% of the population in 2011"Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions", International Telecommunication Union (ITU), retrieved 24 September 2012

Radio and television As in many South American countries, radio is an important disseminator of information in Paraguay.

Radio stations: roughly 75 commercial and community stations; one state-owned radio network in 2010 Radios: 4.475,000 in 1997 Television broadcast stations: 6 privately owned and one state-owned in 2010 Televisions: 4.429,000 in 1997; 750,000 households in 2004

Internet

Country code (top level domain): .py Households with a computer: 22.7% in 2011"Core indicators on access to, and use of, ICT by households and individuals, latest available data", International Telecommunication Union (ITU), retrieved 24 September 2012 Internet users: 1,543,715; 24% of the population in 2011 (95th in the world)Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2011, International Telecommunication Union, retrieved 19 August 2012. Households with Internet access at home: 19.3% in 2011 Internet hosts: 278,473; 64th in the world in 2010"Internet hosts", CIA World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, retrieved 2 April 2012 Fixed broadband Internet subscriptions: 28,147; 0.44% of the population in 2010Fixed broadband subscriptions, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved 8 April 2012. IPv4 addresses allocated: 365,312; 5.6 per 100 inhabitantsSelect Formats , Country IP Blocks. Retrieved 2 April 2012. Note: Site is said to be updated daily.

Censorship

The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. Individuals criticize the government publicly and privately, generally without reprisal or impediment. There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail."Paraguay", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 25 May 2012. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Media crackdown following June 2012 Impeachment of Fernando Lugo

Following 22 June 2012 parliamentary coup that ousted President Fernando Lugo and made then Vice President, Federico Franco, the new president, the new government appears to be in the process of assuming complete control of the state-owned media and its hostility is affecting journalists with the privately owned media as well."Censorship at Radio Nacional, threats and violence from president’s inner circle", Reporters Without Borders, 19 September 2011"In continuing purge, 27 employees fired from state TV", Reporters Without Borders, 5 September 2012"Purges in state media, community radios on alert", Reporters Without Borders, 13 July 2012

In what is seem as an attempt by the government to further control the media, the leader of the Paraguay Broadcasters Union (URP) has called for action against "more than 1,200 pirate radios operating in the country" which he accused of "inciting crime" on many occasions. He also asked the telecoms watchdog CONATEL to withdraw the licences of all stations implicated in what he termed illegal acts, without specifying what they were."Community radio stations face crackdown for 'inciting crime'", Reporters Without Borders, 14 August 2012 There is tension between community radio stations, many of which were staunch opponents of 22 June coup, and the new government due to changes in the recently amended Telecommunications law that could adversely affect the future of community radio stations, many of which are poorly funded and not yet in possession of broadcasting licences. New clauses in the law place a ban on advertising on such stations, restrict their transmission range, and open the possibility of legal action against their representatives if they broadcast without a licence."Purges in state media, community radios on alert", Reporters Without Borders, 12 July 2012

Telecommunications in Paraguay

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