Zimbabwe Communications

Telephone system

The phone system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; more than 100,000 outstanding requests for connection despite an equally large number of installed but unused main lines.

Main lines in use: 212,000 (in addition there are about 20,000 fixed telephones in wireless local loop connections) (1997)

Domestic: consists of microwave radio relay links, open-wire lines, radiotelephone communication stations, fixed wireless local loop installations, and a substantial mobile cellular network; Internet connection is available in Harare and planned for all major towns and for some of the smaller ones

International: Satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; two international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru)

Mobile cellular: 111,000 (2001), 70,000 (1999)

Radio

Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 4 (plus 17 repeater stations), shortwave 1. Acts as the primary communiction for largely rural population. All stations are stringently controlled by the government run ZBC (2002)

Radios: 1.14 million (1997)

Television

Television broadcast stations: only one state-controlled propaganda station ZBC, as government has shut down and refuses to issue licenses to domestic independent broadcasters such as JoyTV(2002)

Televisions: 370,000 (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 6 (2000), 10 (1999)

In June 2004 Mugabe asked ISPs to monitor all email traffic passing through their systems for "anti-national activities". ISPs protest that this is an impossible task