Telecommunication in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Development of telephone and internet connections

With an average download speed of 9.7 Mbit/second for fixed-network broadband internet, the Democratic Republic of the Congo ranks 152nd in an international comparison. The upload rate of only 3.0 Mbit/second was significantly lower (167th place).
In mobile internet, i.e., on tablets and smartphones, the Congo (Dem. Republic) comes 107th with a download speed of 17.89 Mbit/second. The upload speed of around 9 Mbit was enough for 100th place.

The Speedtest Global Index published regularly by Ookla is based on several million individual measurements in December 2022 from 178 countries.

The following diagrams show the development of the various telephone and internet connections as a percentage of the country's population. Values above 100 percent mean that, on average, every inhabitant has more than one connection.

Access to the internet in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1990 - 2020

Broadband internet in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2010 - 2020

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is lagging behind in the expansion of broadband internet connections. Around 14 percent of all residents have access to the internet. Around 0 percent have their own fast internet connection, which is at least faster than the former ISDN (more than 256 kbit/s). All fixed connections via DSL, cable or satellite were counted here, but not those connected to the internet via mobile communications.

The increasing prevalence of cell phones and the simultaneous decline in landline phones clearly indicate a change in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the number of landlines has fallen significantly in recent years, the spread of cell phones has risen to 0 cell phone subscriptions per 100 people at last count. Such a clear shift does not occur in all countries, but the trend points in the same direction internationally.