Congo, Democratic Republic of the Communications 2021, CIA World Factbook

total subscriptions: 0 NA

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: less than 1 (2018 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 42,166,976

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 42.77 (2019 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment:

due to decades of conflict and poor infrastructure, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s telecom system is one of the least developed in the region; government aims to improve loose regulation through legislation; mobile networks are principal providers of telecom; LTE is geographically limited; investment from China and other foreign donors for fiber backbone; international bandwidth through WACS submarine cable; operator licensed to build landing station for submarine cable and tower upgrade that will provide competition in broadband, fixed, and mobile Internet services; operator added fiber link between Brazzaville and Kinshasa (2021)

(2020)

domestic: fixed-line connections less than 1 per 100 persons; given the backdrop of a wholly inadequate fixed-line infrastructure, the use of mobile-cellular services is over 43 per 100 persons (2019)

international: country code - 243; ACE and WACS submarine cables to West and South Africa and Europe; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Broadcast media

state-owned TV broadcast station with near national coverage; more than a dozen privately owned TV stations - 2 with near national coverage; 2 state-owned radio stations are supplemented by more than 100 private radio stations; transmissions of at least 2 international broadcasters are available

Internet country code

.cd

Internet users

total: 8,231,357

percent of population: 8.62% (July 2018 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 4,620

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: less than 1 (2018 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Congo Democratic Republic of the on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Congo Democratic Republic of the 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Congo Democratic Republic of the 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.