Telecommunications in El Salvador

Template:Short description Telecommunications in El Salvador include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet, centered primarily around the capital, San Salvador.

Radio and television

• Radio stations: Hundreds of commercial radio broadcast stations and 1 government-owned radio broadcast station (2007).<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014>"Communications: El Salvador", World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 7 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.</ref>
• Radios: 5.75 million (1997).Template:Update after
• Televisions stations: Multiple privately owned national terrestrial TV networks, supplemented by cable TV networks that carry international channels (2007).<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/>
• Television sets: 5,900,881 (2005).Template:Update after

The most powerful group in the media sector is Tele-Corporación Salvadoreña (TCS), which controls four television channels with nation-wide coverage (Channels 2, 4, 6 and VTV) as well as two radio stations (Vox FM and Qué Buena). Together with TCS, Canal 12 (whose majority shareholder is TV Azteca), Canal 21 (of the Megavisión group) and Canal 33 (of the Tecnovisión group, owned by the Technological University of El Salvador) complete the national television spectrum.<ref>European Union Election Observation Mission, El Salvador 2009, Final Report on the General Elections https://www.eods.eu/library/EUEOM%20FR%20EL%20SALVADOR%202009_en%20.pdf</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The law permits the executive branch to use the emergency broadcasting service to take over all broadcast and cable networks temporarily to televise political programming. The president occasionally uses this law to highlight his accomplishments.<ref name=USDOS-ElSalvador-2012/>

Telephones

• Calling code: +503<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/>
• International call prefix: 00<ref>Dialing Procedures (International Prefix, National (Trunk) Prefix and National (Significant) Number) (in Accordance with ITY-T Recommendation E.164 (11/2010)), Annex to ITU Operational Bulletin No. 994-15.XII.2011, International Telecommunication Union (ITU, Geneva), 15 December 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2014.</ref>
• Fixed lines: 1.1 million lines in use, 74th in the world (2012).<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/>
• Mobile cellular: 8.7 million lines, 88th in the world (2012);<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/> in 2007 the number of mobile phones exceeded the country's population giving the country a 1.06 per capita cellphone penetration rate.<ref>El Salvador: A Central American Tiger?, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Juan Carlos Hidalgo, 9 March 2009.</ref>
• Teledensity: Mobile cellular exceeds 135 per 100 persons (2011).<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/>
• Telephone system: multiple mobile-cellular providers are expanding services rapidly; growth in fixed-line services has slowed in the face of mobile-cellular competition (2011).<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/>
• Satellite earth stations: 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2011).<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/>
• Connected to the Central American Microwave System (2011),<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/> a trunk microwave radio relay system that links the countries of Central America and Mexico with each other.<ref>"Telephone System terms and abbreviations", World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 7 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.</ref>

Internet

• Top-level domain: .sv<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/>
• Internet users: 3.8 million users, 59.4% of the population (2019).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Fixed broadband: 235,403 subscriptions, 81st in the world; 3.9% of the population, 111th in the world (2012).<ref name=NIUCalc>Calculated using penetration rate and population data from "Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2012" Template:Webarchive, Population data, International Programs, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved 26 June 2013</ref><ref name=ITU-IndividualsUsingTheInternet>"Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2012", International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013, retrieved 22 June 2013</ref><ref name="FixedBroadbandITUDynamic2012">"Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012", Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.</ref>
• Wireless broadband: 335,716, 104th in the world; 5.5% of the population, 104th in the world (2012).<ref name="MobleBroadbandITUDynamic2012">"Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012", Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.</ref>
• Internet hosts: 24,070 hosts (2012).<ref name=CIAWFB-ElSalvaror-2014/>
• IPv4: 575,744 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 94.5 addresses per 1000 people (2012).<ref>Select Formats Template:Webarchive, Country IP Blocks. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Site is said to be updated daily.</ref><ref>Population, The World Factbook, United States Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Data are mostly for 1 July 2012.</ref>
• Internet Service Providers: 11 ISPs (early 2005).Template:Citation needed

IT Industry

El Salvador's IT Industry's history started early with several IT outsourcing companies such as Gpremper and an early search engine that predated Google in 1995 called "Buscaniguas".<ref>International Directory of Search Engines, El Salvador Search Engines, "[1]", April 13, 2010</ref> The industry has since expanded with companies such as Creativa Consultores, Applaudo Studios, and Elaniin providing software and website design services to clients globally while employing thousands of people.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Canadian Telus International, a major global IT outsourcing and software development firm, has a significant workforce in the country employing nearly 1,500 people in high tech and customer service roles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The startup scene has also been growing with firms such as HugoApp employing 600 locals and providing delivery and ride sharing services to nearly 1 million users in the Central American/CAFTA region.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="bizlatinhub.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2020, the government announced its "Digital Agenda 2020" a plan to digitize government services, digitize identities, make it easier to start businesses, attract foreign investment and improve the education system.<ref name="bizlatinhub.com"/> Finally, the passing of the Bitcoin Law in 2021 made El Salvador the first country in the world to adopt a cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) as legal tender, this move seeks to improve access to financial services to the non-banked and under banked.

Freedom of Speech restrictions

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. Individuals and groups engage in the expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Internet access is available in public places throughout the country.<ref name=USDOS-ElSalvador-2012>"El Salvador", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 20 March 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2014</ref>

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights. Individuals criticize the government publicly or privately without reprisal, and in most cases the government does not interfere with such criticism. The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions.<ref name=USDOS-ElSalvador-2012/>

By gangs

In March 2012, Carlos Dada, the owner of online newspaper El Faro, received death threats from gang members. The gangs were unhappy with El Faro's reporting on the gang truce. On April 13, the International Press Institute criticized the government for not taking any actions to guarantee the safety of El Faro journalists. According to the Salvadoran Association of Journalists (APES), the media practices self-censorship, especially in their reporting on gangs and narcotics trafficking. APES stated that many members of the media were afraid to report in detail on these subjects due to fear of retaliation from gangs and narcotics trafficking groups.<ref name=USDOS-ElSalvador-2012/>

See also

• Economy of El Salvador
• Politics of El Salvador

References

• Template:CIA World Factbook
• Template:US DOS

External links

• Superintendency of Electricity and Telecommunications (SIGET) Template:In lang.
• SVNet, registrar for the .sv domain Template:In lang.
• Instructions on how to send SMS to El Salvador Template:In lang.
• GSM Cell Phone Networks in El Salvador