Telecommunications in Hungary include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
Radio and television
Hungary has a mix of state-supported public and private broadcasters. Hungary's digital transition has been postponed to the end of 2014.
Radio stations:
- 3 state-supported public-service radio networks and 2 major national commercial stations; a large number of local radio stations including commercial, public service, nonprofit, and community stations (2007);
- 17 AM, 57 FM, and 3 shortwave stations (1998).
Television stations:
- the 3 publicly owned and 2 privately owned TV stations are the major national broadcasters; a large number of special interest channels; about two-thirds of viewers utilize satellite and cable TV services (2007);
- 35 plus 161 low-power repeaters (1995).
Telephone
Calling code: 36
International call prefix: 00
Main lines: 3.0 million lines in use, 51st in the world (2012).
Mobile cellular: 11.6 million lines, 72nd in the world, 117 lines per 100 persons (2012).
Telephone system: modernized and capable of satisfying all requests for telecommunication service; digitized and highly automated system; trunk services are carried by fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio relay; a program for fiber-optic subscriber connections was initiated in 1996; competition among mobile-cellular service providers has led to a sharp increase in the use of mobile-cellular phones since 2000 and a decrease in the number of fixed-line connections; fiber-optic cable connections with all neighboring countries; the international switch is in Budapest (2011).
* Satellite earth stations: 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Inmarsat, 1 Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) (2011).
Internet
Top-level domain: .hu
Internet users:
- 7.2 million users, 47th in the world; 72% of the population, 45th in the world (2012);
- 6.2 million users, 41st in the world (2009).
Internet hosts: 3.1 million hosts, 33rd in the world (2012).
IPv4: 5.5 million addresses allocated, 0.1% of the world total, 550.9 addresses per 1000 people (2012).
Fixed broadband
Fixed broadband: 2.3 million subscriptions, 36th in the world; 22.9% of the population, 41st in the world (2012).
ADSL appeared in Hungary in 2001 and ADSL2+ in late 2005.
The main broadband Internet providers are: T-Home (formerly T-Com/T-Online/Matáv), Chello (UPC), Invitel, Externet, Emitel, Monortel, Pantel, TVnet, TvNetWork, VIVAnet, and DIGI. Smaller providers, such as TigerNet or HDSnet, are mainly available in the city of Budapest.
Mobile broadband
Wireless broadband: 2.3 million subscriptions, 61st in the world; 23.1% of the population, 64th in the world (2012).
The mobile broadband providers include:
Telenor:
- Services: LTE/HSDPA/3G/EDGE/GPRS solutions to use your cell phone to connect to the Internet.
- Technologies: WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access or "UMTS"), CDMA 2000, CDMA TDD.
- Availability: 3G service available in major cities: Budapest, Miskolc, NyÃregyháza, Debrecen, Veszprém, Pécs, Siófok, Szombathely, Tatabánya, Székesfehérvár, Kecskemét, GyÅ'r, Szeged.
T-Mobile:
- Services: GSM/EDGE/3G/HSDPA
- Availability: LTE/3G service available in major cities.
Vodafone:
- Services: LTE/3G/GPRS solutions to use your cell phone to connect to the Internet.
- Availability: 3G service available in many towns.
Internet censorship and surveillance
There is no OpenNet Initiative (ONI) country profile, but Hungary is shown as no evidence of filtering in all areas (political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools) on the ONI global Internet filtering maps.
There are no reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.
On 15 July 2014, at the request of Hungary's National Tax and Customs Authority, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority temporarily blocked access to seven gambling-related sites for three months. An up-to-date list of blocked gambling related sites is published by the Tax and Customs Authority.
The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice.
European Commissioner Kroes, NGOs, and the foreign press raised concerns that provisions of the new media laws requiring balanced reporting and registration of media outlets lacked clear limits and could be interpreted to include blogs. The government and the National Media and Infocommunication Authority (NMHH) argued that, in practice, blogs would be exempt from these requirements on the basis that they are not considered "business endeavors."
Internet tax and protests
In October 2014, thousands of Hungarians protested in Budapest against a planned new tax on Internet data transfers, which they said would not only increase the tax burden but would also curb fundamental democratic rights and freedoms. The draft tax bill contains a provision for Internet providers to pay a tax of 150 forints (60 U.S. cents) per gigabyte of data traffic, though it would also let companies offset corporate income tax against the new levy On 29 October, 2014 an estimated 100,000 Hungarians marched in protest of the tax on internet data Internet developer Zsolt Varady addressed the marchers, saying "The internet tax is a symbol of the government's despotism...We not only need to defeat the tax, we need to believe that we are capable of criticising and influencing the state." One-time socialist party member and critic of the tax, Balazs Gulyas who inspired the week of growing protests from Facebook said, "This is limiting free access to the Internet and information...It is an attempt to create a digital iron curtain around Hungary." Government representative Zoltan Kovacs denied the tax was meant to curtail debate not controlled by the ruling Fidesz party
See also
- Economy of Hungary
References
-  This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2014 edition".
External links
- NIC.hu, Network Coordination Center, including:
- Council of Hungarian Internet Providers (CHIP); .hu domain registration; Budapest Internet eXchange (BIX); Statistics; and the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT).