Telecommunications in Chile
The technical regulator of communications in Chile is the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, through the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications.
Telephone
History
Telephone and telegraph services started in Chile in 1879, three years after Alexander Graham Bell, presented his patent for a telephonic system. José Dottin Husbands, an associate of Thomas Edison, arrived into the port of Valparaíso carrying the first set of switching equipment and telephones. By 1880 the first telephone company of the country is born, while in 1893, after a rapid expansion in the northern regions of Chile, telephone services started operating in the south, thanks to the founding of Telefónica del Sur, a company created by German colonization of [Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue|a group of German immigrants] that had previously settled in the area of Valdivia, Región de los Ríos.- Main lines in use: 2,567,938
- Mobile cellular: 25,068,249
- *Pre-paid: 17,283,257
- *Post-paid: 6,847,497
- System: privatization began in 1988; advanced telecommunications infrastructure; modern system based on extensive microwave radio relay facilities; fixed-line connections have dropped in recent years as mobile-cellular usage continues to increase, reaching a level of 85 telephones per 100 persons
- *Domestic: extensive microwave radio relay links; domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations
- *international: country code - 56; submarine cables provide links to the US and to Central and South America; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat
Radio
- Broadcast stations: 1,490
Television
- Broadcast stations: 63
- Broadcast television system: NTSC
- Pay television: 4,158,874
Internet
- Internet hosts: 847,215
- Internet users: 16,822,264
- Internet mobile users: 4,921,587
- Internet country code: .cl
Other technical details
- Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50 Hz