Telecommunications had an early beginning in Mauritius, with the first telephone line installed in 1883, seven years after the invention of the telephone. Over the years, the network and telephony improved. By the late 20th century, the rapid development and convergence of information and telecommunications technologies gave rise to an ICT industry on the island along with many incentives provided by the government. The government thus aims to make the ICT sector the 5th pillar of the Mauritian economy and Mauritius a Cyber Island. [1] Historically, the country is known for tourism, rather than its call centers and business process outsourcing. [2]
In 1883, basic telephony was introduced in Mauritius, only seven years after the invention of the telephone. The first telephone line was set up between the Colony Governor's residence in Reduit and Government House in Port Louis. [3] The telephone network was maintained by the Electricity and Telephone Department till 1956. From that date, the telecommunications department took that responsibility. [4]
In 1893, Mauritius was linked to Seychelles (then part of Mauritius) and Zanzibar via a submarine telegraphic cable followed by Rodrigues in 1901 by the Eastern and South African Telegraph Company. [4] The transmission rate of the telegraphic service was 15 words per minute, a historical revolution in those days.
Before the independence of the country and till 1985, international communications were managed by Cable & Wireless , a private British company. From 1985, Overseas Telecommunications Services, which subsequently became Mauritius Telecom Limited took over. [4]
The Central Information Systems Division (CISD), formerly known as Data Processing Division (DPD), was created in 1971. The CISD nowadays is responsible for government payroll IT systems, government email, maintenance of all government/departmental websites and technical support. [5]
In 1987, a second standard B earth station and a domestic satellite network were installed with Rodrigues and the Outer Islands. That same year, an X.25 Packet Switched data exchange was also installed. [6]
In July 1988, the state-owned Department of Telecommunications was privatised to become the Mauritius Telecommunications Services (MTS). With privatisation, national and international activities were merged to form Mauritius Telecom Ltd. [6]
The 1988 Telecommunications Act established the legal framework to cater for telecom services in a state-owned monopoly. [6]
The National Computer Board (NCB) was also set up in 1988 by the National Board Act (No 43) to advise the Government on the formulation of national policies for the development of the IT sector and promote an IT culture in the country. [7]
In 1989, the Central Informatics Bureau (CIB) was created whose main functions were to plan and coordinate computerization within the Civil Service. [8]
The State Informatics Limited was also set up in 1989 initially to help in the computerization of the Civil Service. [6]
in 1992, the Prime Minister of Mauritius said that he was firmly opposed to opening the hertzian waves to foreign television, and that his government "would not accord this liberty to foreigners". [9]
By 1997, the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications was created to formulate and implement policies regarding the development of the ICT sector. The CISD and CIB became departments within this new ministry. [6]
However, following the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the WTO, the 1988 Telecommunications Act was replaced with by the Telecommunications Act of 1998 which provided the legal framework to enable the emergence of a free and democratised telecommunications market on the island. This act also created the Mauritius Telecommunications Authority (MTA) as a regulatory body for the telecommunications sector. [6]
With the development of Information and Communications Technologies, the Telecommunications Act of 1998 was replaced by the Information and Communication Technologies Act of 2001. The MTA was subsequently replaced by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA). [6] In 2007, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority directed internet service providers to block access to Facebook. [10] In 2009, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority rejected an application from Outremer Telecom for a cellular telephony licence. [11] In 2014, the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court ordered Data Communication Ltd to pay to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority the sum of Rs 20,672,135.80 inclusive of surcharges for late payment, with costs. [12]
This article was imported from the CIA's World Factbook . |
Telephones - main lines in use: 372,200 (2014)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1,652,000 (2014)
Telephone system: small system with good service
domestic: primarily microwave radio relay trunk system
international: country code - 230; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); new microwave link to Reunion; HF radiotelephone links to several countries; fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia
Radio broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2002)
Radios: 420,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 2 (plus several repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 258,000 (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 14 (2014)
Internet users: 735,400 (2014) [13]
Country code (Top level domain): MU
Television broadcast stations: Only one state-controlled station, Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, as the government refuses to issue licences to domestic broadcasters. [14]
Mauritius has several operators like Mauritius Telecom, Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited (MTML) & Emtel. Each operator uses a different technology to provide Internet access. MTML uses CDMA2000 and Emtel uses HSDPA (3.5G). The monopoly is retained by Mauritius Telecom (MT) which provides dial-up & ADSL services over existing telephone lines.
In 2007, the government took down Facebook for a day. [15] There is a National Cyber Security Strategy for the government to set up a comprehensive framework to monitor Internet traffic which might be harmful to the nation and society. [16] in 2016, a couple was arrested after sharing a post about the Minister of Housing and Lands on Facebook. [17] In September 2016, the Internet filtering and Public Key Infrastructure servers operated by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority were seized by the National Security Service. [18]
Telecommunications in Burkina Faso include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
The National Telecommunications act in the second period of Estonian independence granted a monopoly on international and local fixed line telephony to Estonian Telecom. In the process of privatization, a concession was granted to liberalize mobile, CATV and packet-switched telecommunications. This concession was critical for developing a competitive market. Three licensed mobile operators encouraged one of the highest rates of mobile telephony penetration in the world. CATV licenses were granted at a local level, and while it was a more natural monopoly, pirate operators proliferated within populous cities in the 1990s.
Telecommunications in Ghana include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
Telecommunications in Pakistan describes the overall environment for the mobile telecommunications, telephone, and Internet markets in Pakistan.
Telecommunications in the Philippines are well-developed due to the presence of modern infrastructure facilities. The industry was deregulated in 1995 when President Fidel Ramos signed Republic Act No. 7925. This law opened the sector to more private players and improved the provision of telecom services are better and fairer rates, leading to the creation of many telecommunication service providers for mobile, fixed-line, Internet and other services.
Iran's telecommunications industry is almost entirely state-owned, dominated by the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI). Fixed-line penetration in 2004 was relatively well-developed by regional standards, standing at 22 lines per 100 people, higher than Egypt with 14 and Saudi Arabia with 15, although behind the UAE with 27. Iran had more than 1 mobile phone per inhabitant by 2012.
The liberalization of Bangladesh's telecommunications sector began with small steps in 1989 with the issuance of a license to a private operator for the provision of inter alia cellular mobile services to compete with Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB), the previous monopoly provider of telecommunications services within Bangladesh. Significant changes in the number of fixed and mobile services deployed in Bangladesh occurred in the late 1990s and the number of services in operation has subsequently grown exponentially in the past five years.
.mu is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Mauritius. It is administered by the Mauritius Network Information Centre and registrations are processed via accredited registrars. Some registrars market it as the .music and .museum TLD.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited is a 'Navratna' Category Public sector undertakings in India which is in turn under the ownership of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India. Headquartered in New Delhi, India. MTNL Provides services in the metro cities of Mumbai and New Delhi in India and in the island nation of Mauritius in Africa. It had a monopoly in Mumbai and New Delhi until 1992, when the telecom sector was opened to other service providers. "एमटीएनएल है, तो सही है" {"MTNL hai to sahi hai"} & "Transparency makes us different" is its motto. The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited currently holds 100% of its stock. . As of June 2021, it has 3.28 million subscribers. It is also a wholly owned subsidiary of a central public sector unit.
The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) is an organization in Africa that combines countries and mobile telecommunications providers in an attempt to dramatically increase development of the continent's information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure.
Bahrain has been connected to the internet since 1995, and made it readily available to its citizens. The country's domain suffix is '.bh'. A 2004 study showed a liberal filtering system is used in Bahrain, one which can be easily bypassed, however more recent events have shown more sophisticated and pervasive filtering. In January 2009, Bahrain has started blocking a vastly increased number of sites through the Information Affairs Authority (IAA). The new filtering has had a noticeable impact in internet access speeds for all traffic.
Internet in Tajikistan became present within the country during the early 1990s. Tajikistan had just become independent in 1992, with Emomali Rahmon as the new ruler, when the internet was introduced to the country. Nevertheless, it was after over a decade that the country’s internet became more accessible. The history of the internet’s foundation in Tajikistan extends from 1992 to present-day Tajikistan. By 2009, internet penetration had developed since the initial conception of the internet in Tajikistan and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) had increased in number. In terms of the ISPs, Tajikistan primarily relied upon satellite-based connections using Discovery Global Networks.
Emtel Ltd. is a telecommunications company based in Ebene City, Mauritius. Launched on 29 May 1989 – Emtel Ltd became the first mobile telephony operator in the Southern Hemisphere. This took place under the aegis of The Currimjee Jeewanjee Group.
Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited (MTML) is a division of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited which specialises in telecommunications and Internet services currently operational in Mauritius. MTML was founded in 2003 as a division of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).
ALBtelecom sh.a. was an Albanian telecommunications company. It was established as Albania's state company that provided telecommunications services through a fixed network. On 5 December 1912 the Provisional Government led by Ismail Qemali established the Ministry of Post Telegraph Telephones, where ALBtelecom existed only as a government office. It is the largest fixed line telephone company in the country, currently covering with Optical Fiber Backbone Network the entire territory of Albanian cities.
The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA), is a national telecommunications regulatory and inspection authority of Turkey. It was formerly known as the Telecommunications Authority.
Infocommunications is the natural expansion of telecommunications with information processing and content handling functions including all types of electronic communications on a common digital technology base, mainly through Internet technology.
Information and communication technology (ICT) in Kosovo has experienced a remarkable development since 1999. From being almost non-existent 10 years ago, Kosovar companies in the information technology (IT) domain offer today wide range of ICT services to their customers both local as well as to foreign companies. Kosovo has the youngest population in Europe, with advanced knowledge in ICT.
The Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology is a Bangladeshi government ministry. It contains two divisions:
Ministry of Communications is a Central ministry under the Government of India responsible for telecommunications and postal service. It was carved out of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on 19 July 2016.