Namibia Communications 2022, CIA World Factbook

total subscriptions: 140,370 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 6 (2020 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 2,898,125 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 114 (2020 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment: the government’s Broadband Policy aims to provide 95% population coverage by 2024; mobile network coverage has increased sharply in recent years; by 2021, 3G infrastructure provided 89% population coverage while LTE infrastructure provided 79% coverage (compared to only 40% a year earlier); despite the relatively advanced nature of the market, progress towards 5G has been slow, partly due to unsubstantiated public concerns over health implications of the technology which caused the government to order an environmental assessment of 5G in mid-2020; the government has requested the regulator to speed up its 5G development strategy; Namibia’s internet and broadband sector is reasonably competitive, its development was for many years held back by high prices for international bandwidth caused by the lack of a direct connection to international submarine cables; this market situation improved after operators invested in diversifying terrestrial access routes to adjacent countries; by the end of 2022 Namibia is expected to be connected by a 1,050km branch line of cable running between Portugal and South Africa (2022)

domestic: fixed-line subscribership is less than 6 per 100 and mobile-cellular roughly 102 per 100 persons (2020)

international: country code - 264; landing points for the ACE and WACS fiber-optic submarine cable linking southern and western African countries to Europe; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (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 a downturn, particularly in mobile device production; progress toward 5G implementation has resumed, as well as upgrades to infrastructure; consumer spending on telecom services has increased due to the surge in demand for capacity and bandwidth; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home is still evident, and the spike in this area has seen growth opportunities for development of new tools and increased services

Broadcast media

1 private and 1 state-run TV station; satellite and cable TV service available; state-run radio service broadcasts in multiple languages; about a dozen private radio stations; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters available

Internet country code

.na

Internet users

total: 1,041,776 (2020 est.)

percent of population: 41% (2020 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 71,063 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 3 (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Namibia on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Namibia 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Namibia 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.