| Telephones - main lines in use | total subscriptions: 652,272 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 5.71 (2019 est.) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | total subscriptions: 11,688,830 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 102.25 (2019 est.) |
| Telecommunication systems | general assessment: with low national GDP and remote landlocked geography, Bolivia’s telecom services are historically expensive and neglected resulting in low penetration; fixed telecom market is provided by non-profit cooperatives focused on improvement of services such as broadband and paid TV services; some operators adopted fixed-wireless technologies and fiber-optic capacity; fixed broadband services migrating from DSL to fiber remain expensive and largely unavailable in many areas; historically relied on satellite services or terrestrial links and inaugurated a new cable running via Peru to the Pacific; operator aims to increase coverage through mobile networks for voice and data access, especially to rural areas; space agency plans to boost satellite-based Internet; in 2020, communications towers in Yapacani were destroyed due to pandemic conspiracy fears; importer of broadcasting equipment from China (2021) (2020)domestic: 6 per 100 fixed-line, mobile-cellular telephone use expanding rapidly and teledensity stands at 101 per 100 persons; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and other capital cities (2019) international: country code - 591; Bolivia has no direct access to submarine cable networks and must therefore connect to the rest of the world either via satellite or through terrestrial links across neighboring countries; 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 | large number of radio and TV stations broadcasting with private media outlets dominating; state-owned and private radio and TV stations generally operating freely, although both pro-government and anti-government groups have attacked media outlets in response to their reporting |
| Internet country code | .bo |
| Internet users | total: 4,955,569 percent of population: 43.83% (July 2018 est.) |
| Broadband - fixed subscriptions | total: 746,872 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 6.53 (2019 est.) |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
