SECTOR 2

Most of the newspapers listed above also publish their content online on their
websites.

Radio
Radio signals cover about 87% of the country, with most areas that are not
covered able to tune into radio stations from South Africa. There are two staterun radio stations:
•

Radio Lesotho

•

Ultimate FM

The most popular private radio stations are:
•

MoAfrika FM

•

Harvest FM

•

PC FM

Radio is accessible and affordable to the majority of people in the country.

Television
There is only one state television (TV) station, Lesotho TV (LTV) and no independent
terrestrial TV stations. Panellists noted that most people with the means to access
satellite dishes prefer to watch MultiChoice’s DSTV, a satellite broadcast provider,
rather than LTV.

Internet
Research studies conducted by Research Africa show that by the end of 2016,
Lesotho had mobile phone penetration of 78.7% (i.e. Lesotho residents owning
a mobile phone). Among the 14 Southern African Development Community
(SADC) countries, Lesotho is ranked fifth, having a mobile subscription rate of
100.94%. These figures do not represent unique subscribers but the number of
active Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards in the country.3
While many urban residents are connected to the internet, data remains
expensive. For instance, a 320-megabyte (MB) data voucher on Vodacom (a
popular telecoms provider), costs 16 M (1.15 USD).
The government is on a drive to improve universal access to the internet and has
started installing internet connections in the community councils’ offices to help
improve service delivery.

3

23

The State of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Lesotho (2016). Commissioned by the Lesotho
Communications Authority (LCA) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Completed March 2017.
Retrieved at https://researchictafrica.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017_The-State-of-ICT-in-Lesotho_RIA_LCA.
pdf.

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2018

Select target paragraph3