By 2000, there were 75,000 Internet users and about a dozen e-commerce shops in Latvia.
High-speed access costs remained prohibitive; for example, an ADSL service was introduced in July 2000 and planned to charge a monthly fee of 50,00Ls.
In Latvia exist more than 2 million mobile phones but only 644,000 fixed phone connections. Since the fixed-line voice communication monopoly ended on January 1, 2003, several companies entered the market for fixed voice communication services: Aeronavigācijas serviss, Baltcom TV, Beta Telecom, Latvenergo Tehniskais Centrs, OPTRON, Rigatta, Telecentrs, Telenets, Telekom Baltija, CSC Telecom and Bite Latvija.
By 2003, however, only 5.4% of Latvians used the Internet at home, and 60% did not use it at all; those who did instead accessed it in public areas or through their place of work, as high subscription prices for home usage remained a barrier.
By 2008, access prices had fallen to 11,90Ls (€17) per month for the Lattelecom ADSL line.
Individuals and groups engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. In September 2010 the government's Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB), which enforces campaign laws, removed a satirical film, The Last Bear Slayer, from the on-demand playlist of the partially state-owned cable provider, Lattelecom.
Reporters Without Borders charged that the prohibition constituted improper censorship, but noted it was ineffective because the film was widely available on the Internet. On June 1, 2014 new subsection 22 of section 19 of Electronic Communications Law was enforced to enable blocking unlicensed gambling websites.
By July 2015, 79,2% of the population use internet at home.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05