Mass media in Laos
Mass media in Laos is based on a network of telephone lines, radiotelephone communications, and mobile phone infrastructure.
After the Lao People's Revolutionary Party seized power in 1975, independent newspapers, radio stations, and printing presses were either closed or brought under party control. The 2008 Media Law of Laos affirms the role of the media as the voice of the party. The lead media organization is Khaosan Pathet Lao (Lao News Agency), whose lead all other news sources are expected to follow.[1]
Infrastructure and statistics
In 1997, there were 25,000 telephone lines in use, and in 2007 there were 850,000 mobile cellular subscribers.[2] Laos was served by a Russian Intersputnik satellite.[3] In 2015, Laos launched its own communications satellite, LaoSat 1, jointly owned by the Laotian government and the China Asia-Pacific Mobile Telecommunications Satellite Company.[4]
In 1998, there were 12 AM stations and 1 FM station. In 1997 there were an estimated 730,000 radios in the country. In 2011 Laos had 3 television channels. In 2000, there was 1 Internet service provider, by 2002 serving about 10,000 users. The top-level domain for Laos is .la.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Lutz, Paul-David (2024-01-02). "'Mouthpiece' and 'arena'? – social(ist) media in contemporary Laos". South East Asia Research. 32 (1): 76–94. doi:10.1080/0967828X.2024.2310865. ISSN 0967-828X.
- ^ "Laos", The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society, Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2020, doi:10.4135/9781483375519.n356, ISBN 978-1-4833-7553-3, retrieved 2026-03-11
- ^ Downing, John (1985). "The Intersputnik System and Soviet Television". Soviet Studies. 37 (4): 465–483. ISSN 0038-5859.
- ^ Clark, Stephen (November 22, 2015). "China launches first satellite for Laos – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2026-03-11.
- ^ ".la Domain Delegation Data". www.iana.org. Retrieved 2026-03-10.