Telecommunications in the Dominican Republic

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

Numerous television channels are available. Tricom, S.A, Wind Telecom, and Claro Codetel provide television services digitally, with channels from Latin America and elsewhere in the world. There are extensive mobile phone and land-line services. Internet access is available as Cable Internet, ADSL, WiMAX, EDGE, EV-DO and UMTS/HSDPA in most parts of the country. Projects to extend Wi-Fi (wireless internet) hots spots have been undertaken in Santo Domingo.

The Instituto Dominicano De Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL) regulates and supervises the development of the country's telecommunications market.

Radio and television

• Radio broadcast stations: AM 146, FM 233, shortwave 14 (2013). A combination of state-owned and privately owned radio stations with more than 300 radio stations operating (2007).
• Radios: 1.44 million (1997).

• Television stations: 46 (2012). A combination of state-owned and privately owned broadcast media; 1 state-owned and a number of private TV networks; networks operate repeaters to extend signals throughout country (2007).
• Pay TV: 49,010 subscribers (2010).
• Television sets: 770,000 (1997).

Cable television in the Dominican Republic is provided by a variety of companies. These companies offer both English and Spanish language television, plus a range of channels in other languages, high definition channels, pay-per-view movies and events, sports packages, premium movies channels and adult channels such as HBO, Playboy TV, Cinecanal, MLB Extra Innings, etc. The channels are not only from the Dominican Republic, but also the United States and Europe.

In the Dominican Republic there are 46 in VHF and UHF channels free-to-air channels. The programming on the free of charge channels consists mainly of locally produced entertainment shows, news, and comedy shows; and foreign sit-comes, soap operas, movies, cartoons, and sports programs.

The main service provider in the Dominican Republic is Tricom. Aster is concentrated in Santo Domingo, but is expanding its service throughout the Dominican Republic. There are new companies using new technologies that are expanding quickly such as Claro TV (IPTV and Satellite TV), Wind Telecom (MMDS) and SKY (Satellite TV).

On election day in May 2012 government broadcast regulators took two popular national television channels (11 and 33) off the air on the grounds that they violated an electoral law prohibiting distribution of exit poll or other unofficial information regarding the final results of the electoral process. Both channels were closed on the afternoon of May 20 and reopened the next morning.

Telephones

• Area codes: 809, 829, and 849.
• International call prefix: 011
• Fixed lines: 1.0 million lines in use, 73rd in the world (2012).
• Fixed line teledensity: 10 per 100 people (2011).
• Mobile cellular: 9.0 million lines (2012).
• Mobile cellular teledensity: 90 per 100 people (2011).
• VoIP: 45,328 lines (2012).
• Domestic system: Relatively efficient system based on island-wide microwave radio relay network (2011) and fiber optics lines that cover many of the main cities.
• Communications cables: Landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1), ANTILLAS I, and the Fibralink submarine cables that provide links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US (2011).
• Satellite earth station: 1, Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2011).

Internet

• Top-level domain: .do
• Internet users: 4.5 million users, 62nd in the world; 45.0% of the population, 98th in the world (2012).
• Fixed broadband: 446,420 subscriptions, 72nd in the world; 4.4% of the population, 108th in the world (2012).
• Wireless broadband: 1.6 million subscriptions, 65th in the world; 15.4% of the population, 80th in the world (2012).
• Internet hosts: 404,500 hosts, 55th in the world (2012).
• IPv4: 857,600 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 85 addresses per 1000 people (2012).
• Internet service providers (ISPs): 8: Claro (ADSL and wireless), Tricom (WiMAX, ADSL, and Cable), Aster (CABLE), VIVA (wireless), Orange (wireless), Onemax (WiMAX), Wind Telecom (WiMAX) (2008).

Broadband Internet access

The Dominican Republic is considered one of the countries with the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures in Latin America, with over 8.9 million cell phones connected (on just about 10 million populants, with 3.5 million of them on extreme poverty conditions) and large companies like Codetel and Orange (FR) on the telecommunications market. Broadband Internet access is growing, with over 622,931 Internet accounts globally and 3,851,278 Internet users as of December, 2010 according to INDOTEL (DR Telecommunications Institute). Broadband DSL represents about 56% of the total Internet subscribers. There is access to regular ADSL, G.SHDSL, and services only on metropolitan areas, costs are high and service is decent. Cable Internet is offered by a couple of cable companies at lower costs than ADSL but the service is very deficient and unreliable. WiFi is becoming more common. It is available in some universities. Most hotels also offer wi-fi internet. The implementation of the WiMAX and HSPA technology by some of the Cellphone service providers are resulting in the rapid investment by other providers in the market to match the new and faster platform of services. Mobile broadband user have seen their percentage grow from 14% in 2007 all the way to 39% in 2010, and will continue to grow as more and more users are opting for this type of technology in a country where Home Broadband speeds are more expensive and slower. Also the ongoing installation of a Fiber-Optic network structure in the National District and the City of Santiago (second largest in the country) will force other competitors into upgrading theirs to be able to compete in the markets they now lead.

Pricing

As of October 2011, not including taxes.

Key: DOP: Dominican peso, USD: United States dollar.

Pricing by download speed and provider

Pricing for mobile broadband

• 100MB = Up to 14.4 Mbit/s Downstream for 505 DOP ($$24.02 USD).
• 3GB = Up to 14.4 Mbit/s Downstream for 1,273 DOP ($$48.24 USD).
• 10GB = Up to 14.4 Mbit/s Downstream for 2,553 DOP ($69.00 USD).

Internet censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight.

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system ensure freedom of speech and press. The independent media are active and express a wide variety of views without restriction. Individuals and groups are generally able to criticize the government publicly and privately without reprisal, although there have been incidents in which authorities intimidated journalists or other news professionals. Local journalists engage in self-censorship, particularly when coverage could adversely affect the economic or political interests of media owners. The government denies using unauthorized wiretapping or other surreptitious methods to interfere with the private lives of individuals and families, however, human rights groups and opposition politicians allege that such interference does occur.

See also

• Dominican Postal Institute
• North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement

References

•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State.

External links

• nic.do, Network Information Center for the .do domain.
• Claro
• Compania De Servicios Inalambricos Dominicana
• Indotel, Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones.
• Indotel, Dominican Republic Communications Regulation Authority.
• ONEMAX
• Orange
• SKY
• Tricom
• VIVA
• Wind Telecom