Telecommunications in Greenland

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

Greenland has, by law, only one service provider for telecommunications and the Internet, TELE Greenland, which is fully owned by the Greenlandic Home Rule government. ^[1] TELE Greenland provides switched telephone and data, land mobile communications, and VHF and MF shore-to-ship communication. ^[2] This type of monopoly is not uncommon in Greenland.

Radio and television

KNR Headquarters in Nuuk

Television in Greenland began in the 1960s.

Privately owned transmitters were created to receive TV from Canada, Iceland, and mainland Denmark. This can date as far back when television was introduced to Greenland in the 1960s. It was possible to receive TV from Canada with a normal household TV antenna, but color transmissions were NTSC and signals were in very bad quality and however in some circumstances, television transmissions were not available at all due to factors such as weather conditions or time of day, even for the people who owned private transmitters. Greenland did not have any local TV service until 1982.

The state broadcaster is Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR, Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation), which provides one television and one radio service nationwide. ^[3] Both broadcast in Greenlandic and Danish. Administered as an independent public corporation by the Greenlandic government, KNR has a seven-person board and management committee. They employ 100 people and are funded publicly and by advertising. ^[4]

A few private local TV and radio stations are also available as Danish public radio rebroadcasts. ^[5] An umbrella organization in Greenland, known as the STTK, operates local radio and TV stations throughout the country. ^[6] There are also American Forces Network stations, operated by the United States Air Force.

Greenlanders owned an estimated 30,000 radios and 30,000 television sets, as of 2002. ^{[7] [ needs update ]}

Telephones

See also: Telephone numbers in Greenland

• Calling code: +299 ^[5]
• International call prefix: 00 ^[8]
• Fixed telephone lines: 7,259 lines in use, 197th in the world (2019). ^[5]
• Mobile telephone connections: 66,009, 202nd in the world (2019). ^[5]

All telephone numbers have 6 digits.

There are adequate domestic and international telephone services, provided by cables and microwave radio relay. The system was totally digitized in 1995. The Greenland Connect submarine cable provides connectivity to Europe via Iceland and to North America via Newfoundland. ^[9] TELE Greenland first used satellite communication in 1978 and currently uses 15 satellite earth stations (12 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, and 2 Americom GE-2), all over the Atlantic Ocean. ^[5]

Mobile

As of 2019 there were 66,009 active mobile telephony subscriptions in use in Greenland. In 2007, all NMT (1G) networks were shut down. 4G launched in 2014. ^[10]

Mobile coverage extends to nearly all inhabited areas in Greenland except some remote areas.

In Greenland, VHF radio-telephone is also used. Users make calls over a radio instead of a phone. Outside of Greenland, VHF phones are mainly used on ships, but in Greenland they can also be used as regular phones. In 2001, 42% of Greenlanders owned a portable VHF phone.

On September 30, 2022, Tele Greenland has collaborated with Swedish Telecommunications provider Ericsson in building a 5G network in Greenland. ^[11]

Internet

• Greenland has only one major Internet Service Provider (ISP): Tele Greenland (Tele Post Greenland A/S).
• Greenland has only one major data center: Owned by Tele Greenland in Nuuk.
• The country code for top-level domains is .gl ^[5]
• 40,084 people or 64.48% of Greenland's population were able to use the Internet in 2019, placing Greenland 201st in the world. ^[5]
• There were 13,192 fixed broadband subscriptions placing Greenland 164th in the world with a 23% penetration rate (2019). ^[5]
• Greenland has been allocated 16,384 IPv4 addresses, less than 0.05% of the world's total or 284 addresses per 1000 people (2012). ^{[12] [13]}
• Internet and telephone services rely on the Greenland Connect submarine communications cables for external traffic.

Internet censorship and surveillance

Further information: Internet censorship in Denmark

As a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland has a democratically elected home-rule government whose powers may encompass all matters except foreign and national security affairs, police services, and monetary matters. Greenlanders have the same rights throughout the kingdom as other citizens. ^[14]

The Danish government places no restrictions on access to the Internet and there are no credible reports that e-mail or Internet chat rooms are monitored without appropriate legal authority. Authorities continue to employ an Internet filter designed to block child pornography. In no known cases did the filter affect legitimate sites. The Danish Constitution provides for freedom of speech and press with some limitations such as cases involving child pornography, libel, blasphemy, hate speech, and racism, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. ^[14]

In April 2013, the registrar for the .gl domain unilaterally voluntarily suspended resolution of thepiratebay.gl, intended to be a new primary Domain Name for the famous Bittorrent search engine The Pirate Bay. ^[15]

See also

• Internet censorship in Greenland (Kingdom of Denmark)

References

1. "TELE -". www.tele.gl. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
2. "TELE Greenland A/S" Archived 12 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 17 December 1997. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
3. Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR): Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation Archived 1 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine .
4. "About KNR" Archived 5 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR): Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation, 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
5. "Greenland - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
6. "Greenland profile – Media". BBC News. 29 May 2012. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
7. Jenny B. David, "Greenland Press, Media, TV, and Newspapers" Archived 9 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine , Press Reference, 2002. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
8. Dialing Procedures (International Prefix, National (Trunk) Prefix and National (Significant) Number) (in Accordance with ITY-T Recommendation E.164 (11/2010)) Archived 18 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine , Annex to ITU Operational Bulletin No. 994-15.XII.2011, International Telecommunication Union (ITU, Geneva), 15 December 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
9. "The marine cable: Greenland Connect" Archived 9 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine , TELE Greenland. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
10. TeleGeography. "TELE Greenland opens 4G network to smartphone users". www.telegeography.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
11. Pengrattana, Kanlayakorn (1 October 2022). "Tusass and Ericsson connect Greenland with 5G". Scandasia. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
12. Select Formats Archived 13 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine , Country IP Blocks. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Site is said to be updated daily.
13. Population Archived 25 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine , The World Factbook, United States Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Data are mostly for 1 July 2012.
14. "Denmark" , Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
15. "New Pirate Bay Greenland Domains (About to be) Seized". TorrentFreak. 10 April 2013. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.

•  This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA.  (Archived 2013 edition.)
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State .

External links

• TELE Greenland
• KNR, Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation.
• Greenland Television
• STTK