SECTOR 2 i) Print Media There are more than 50 declared newspapers in Congo, about 20 of which are regular. But their combined circulation is weak and concentrates in the big cities. The only daily and largest circulating newspaper Les Dépêches de Brazzaville is believed to have a print run of just 5000 copies. Les Dépêches is also the cheapest newspaper at CFAF 100 (0,15 Euro) per copy. The most expensive newspapers cost CFAF 500 (0,76 Euro), almost the cost of an average breakfast, and is not affordable for ordinary citizens. In addition to cost, illiteracy is also a limiting factor to newspaper circulation. Even though some rural dwellers are literate in some national and local languages, newspapers publish exclusively in French, the official language. There is no evidence that an effort is made to circulate newspapers to remote rural areas. A few retailers try to get papers to far off localities, but the paper only arrives about two to three days after it was published. i) Web-based media (Internet) Internet penetration is weak7 but growing, particular thanks to the introduction of affordable data plans by mobile phone operators. Reliable access is expensive with subscribers paying up to CFAF 150,000 (about 230 Euro) a month, about the average monthly cost of a rented flat. Though mobile data plans take the internet to every part covered by the mobile networks, it largely remains an urban phenomenon. Like newspapers, illiteracy limits its full usage. Few have internet at home and at work. The number of internet cafés, which serve that vast majority of internet users, is falling. A study by Etienne Perez Epagna-Toua, commissioned by FAO and the World Bank showed that the number of cafés in Brazzaville dropped from 250 to 100 in just two years, between 2005 and 2007. The situation was mostly blamed on extremely low bandwidth and frequent disruption of connectivity. Internet cost and quality have been compromised by the lack of state of the art technology. The country was still in the process of introducing a fibre optics network, which would cut down prices and increase the bandwidth available to the citizens. i) Mobile telephone Like in many parts of Africa, the penetration of mobile phones is strong. It is hard to think of any area that is not covered by the country’s mobile phone operators. “It is rare to find someone without a mobile phone, even in very remote places.” 7 Fiche sur l’observatoire Congolais des Médias(OCM) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 2013 87