Postal, telephone, and wireless services are owned and operated by the government. Radiotelephone ties exist between Tripoli and European centers. In 1999 there were 411,000 telephones. The Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corp. broadcasts on radio in Arabic and English, and on television in Arabic, English, Italian, and French. As of 1999 there were 17 AM and 3 FM radio stations, and 12 television stations. In 2000 there were 273 radios and 137 television sets for every 1,000 people. In 2000, one Internet Service Provider served about 7,500 users.

In 2002, there were three major daily newspapers. Al-Fair Al-Jadeed (The New Dawn) is a government-owned daily published in Tripoli, with circulation of about 40,000. The other dailies included Al-Jihad and Libyan Press Review.

 

Internet in Libya

Internet cafes are widely available and provide free access to the Internet that is not free of charge - you would expect to pay a pound or two for one hour access. Yahoo and hotmail emails are the most popular webmails among the Libyans. The speed, however, is still mostly dial-up (at 0.40 LYD per hour for home use only).

Some new companies started to provide high speed DSL Internet connection (which is only 256 kbps download). The Phoenicia Group (in partnership with other companies) have recently agreed to provide VSAT connectivity solutions to selected Libyan institutions. VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) is a satellite Internet system without cable-based infrastructure (wireless), which is ideal for companies operating in the desert like oil and gas companies, as well as for the government, military and corporate clients. The Group also provides a 3G-based satellite Internet service launched by Inmarsat (about 428 Kbps), using a mobile lap-top sized terminal which can be set up almost anywhere worldwide. This services is known as BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network).

The most recent service to enter the market is the wireless internet from Libyana Net, where a personal package provides 1 GB a month at up to 3.6 Mb/Sec for a one-off payment of 335 Libyan Dinars and then 15 LYD per a month, with 5 LYD for each additional 1MB ( http://www.libyana.ly/). kkk