Internet in Greece

The Internet in Greece relied on PSTN/ISDN modem dial-up from 1990 until 2003, when ADSL was commercially launched by incumbent operator OTE. ADSL2+ and VDSL2 is currently the main broadband standard. Greece also has 3G and 4G+ mobile broadband (HSPA) and a more expensive Satellite Internet access. Greece has an extensive fiber optic network throughout the country.

Summary

• Top-level domain: .gr
• Internet users: 6.0 million users, 52nd in the world; 56.0% of the population, 71st in the world (2012).
• Fixed broadband: 2.5 million subscriptions, 32nd in the world; 23.5% of the population, 40th in the world (2012).
• Wireless broadband: 4.8 million, 38th in the world; 44.5% of the population, 35th in the world (2012).
• Internet hosts: 3.2 million hosts, 32nd in the world (2012).
• IPv4: 5,549,568 addresses allocated, 0.1% of the world total, 515 addresses per 1,000 people (2012).
• Internet service providers (ISPs): Approximately 23 ISPs. Two Tier 1 ISPs. NCSR Demokritos was the first Hellenic Internet Service Provider ariadnet.

DSL

A variety of new entrants have appeared since the liberalization of the market and local-loop unbundling. These operators typically offer lower prices than OTE.

The main DSL providers are:

• Cosmote
• Cyta Hellas
• Forthnet
• Vodafone Greece (after merger with Hellas Online)
• WIND Hellas

Defunct:

• On Telecoms
• Vivodi Telecom

Internet speed in Greece today

The available speeds are:

• up to 24Mbit/s ADSL2+
• up to 50Mbit/s VDSL2
• up to 120Mbit/s FTTB
• 150Mbit/s FTTH

Mobile broadband access

Mobile broadband offers are available from all three national mobile phone operators Cosmote, Vodafone Greece and WIND Hellas, with up to 375 Mbit/s downlink speeds. Mobile broadband was heavily marketed during 2008 by all three, leading to a surge in mobile Internet usage, primarily with mobile professionals and young users.

Downstreams are realized via (HSDPA) technology with speeds for Wind Hellas and Cosmote reaching up to 28,8 Mbit/s and for Vodafone Greece up to 42,2 Mbit/s. Upstreams of all three providers are realized via HSUPA technology, reaching up to 5,76 Mbit/s.

Satellite broadband

Greece is covered by two satellite internet providers:

• Hellas-Sat offers satellite service under the "Hellas Sat Net" brandname. OTE, as one of the owners of Hellas Sat, offers Hellas Sat Net service through its own distribution channels (website, shops etc.). The subscription packages either include a one-year commitment that is automatically renewed as unlimited time service after one year, or as a six-month limited subscription for "seasonal business" (as described on the oteshop website) that is renewable on demand.

The equipment is installed by Hellas Sat accredited engineers and it includes a Satnet S3020 DVB - RCS VSAT Terminal (Advantech) satellite modem and a 0,96 m Antenna (satellite dish with transmitter receiver). Hellas Sat Net connections are also used to interconnect public administration offices and schools in remote areas (mostly remote islands of the Aegean Sea) to the national administration network Syzefxis and to the Internet).

• Tooway covers Greece with broadband satellite Internet. Since 2011 they offer a downstream speed of up to 22 Mbit/s and an upstream speed of up to 6 Mbit/s. They address private and business customers and have a variety of packages reaching from traffic metered packages to flatrate programmes.

Internet censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without appropriate legal authority.

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. Independent media are active and express a wide variety of views. Individuals can criticize the government publicly or privately without reprisal, and the government does not impede criticism. However, the law provides for prosecution of individuals who "intentionally incite others to actions that could provoke discrimination, hatred, or violence against persons or groups of persons on the basis of their race or ethnic origin or who express ideas insulting to persons or to groups of persons because of their race or ethnic origin." In practice the government has never invoked these provisions. The law permits any prosecutor to order the seizure of publications that insult the president, offend any religion, contain obscenity, advocate for the violent overthrow of the political system, or disclose military secrets. The law provides criminal penalties for defamation, however, in most criminal defamation cases, authorities released defendants on bail pending trial and they served no time in jail. The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence. However, NGOs such as the Greek Helsinki Monitor report that authorities do not always respect these provisions in practice.

On October 28, 2012 police arrested a Greek journalist for violating personal privacy laws for publishing the "Lagarde List" of more than 2,000 alleged Greek tax evaders with Swiss bank accounts. On November 1, a court acquitted him; prosecutors appealed the verdict, and a trial date was pending at the end of 2012.

In September 2012 the cyber-crime police arrested a 27-year-old man, charging him with "malicious blasphemy and insulting religion". The man reportedly created a Facebook page under the name "Elder Pastitsios" that played on the name of a legendary Mount Athos monk famous for his prophecies about Greece and Orthodox Christianity. The cyber-crime police seized the man’s laptop and removed the Facebook page. No trial date had been set by the end of 2012.

On August 6, 2009, the most-visited Greek blog (troktiko.blogspot.com) was shut down. Although Google cites potential violations of the terms of use, comments implying other reasons behind the closure of troktiko were published in several leading Greek blogs. The blog went back on-line a few months later and suspended its activities in July 2010, after the assassination of Sokratis Giolias, its administrator.

On June 29, 2009, George Sanidas, the soon-to-be-retired Prosecutor of the Greek Supreme Court (Areios Pagos), declared that "Internet-based communications are not covered by current privacy laws" and are thus open to surveillance by the police. Such surveillance would be, according to Sanidas's mandate, completely legal. Following this proclamation, Greek bloggers, legal experts and notable personalities from the media have claimed that Sanidas's mandate contravenes both the Greek constitution and current EU laws regarding the privacy of Internet communications. Furthermore, this mandate has been greatly criticised as being a first step towards full censorship of all Internet content.

See also

• Greek Internet Exchange (GR-IX), an independent, non-profit Internet exchange point located in Athens.
• Greek Research and Technology Network (GRNET) (Greek: Εθνικό Δίκτυο Έρευνας και Τεχνολογίας, ΕΔΕΤ), the national research and education network of Greece.
• Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. (Greek: Οργανισμός Τηλεπικοινωνιών Ελλάδος Α.Ε.), known by its Greek initials OTE, is the dominant telecommunications provider in Greece.

References

•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State.

External links

• Greece on the Internet, IPduh.
• www.adslgr.com, an independent review site for broadband in Greece (Greek).
• .GR Registry, domain name registry, Foundation for Research & Technology - Hellas (FORTH).
• .GR.COM, alternative domain name registry, CentralNIC.
• GR-IX, Greek Internet Exchange (Greek).
• ΕΔΕΤ (Greek), GRNET (English), research and education network of Greece.