Electricity, Phone, Internet, TV, Radio, Public Transportation, Banking, Postal and Other Services in Nicaragua

It is not surprising that Nicaragua will have more airports than hospitals as the Somozas were fond of traveling by air during their reign. As of 2009, airports in Nicaragua, at last count, totaled at 143 with only 11 of these having paved runways. The road transport system of the country is still an eyesore in the country’s effort to progress. Although people are friendly to tourist, when riding a bus, discomfort is the first thing that comes to mind as these buses where converted school buses. These buses are often called “chicken buses” by locals because they used the roof to transport chickens. Traveling outside Managua usually would mean traveling through unpaved roads as the country has 19,036 km of space for roads but only 2,299 km of road has been paved. However, it is also good to note that Nicaragua is a land riddled with volcanoes from its northern tip to the southern tip, so concreting roads from end to end might not be feasible as tremors might just destroy any paving made. Taxicabs can only usually be found in the town capital of Managua. Then when it comes to traveling by water, 2,220 km are allotted as waterways.

Surprisingly enough, though the transport system has been somewhat deprived of upgrades, the country’s telecommunications system is already using digital technology. Fixed-line ratio against the population is at 5 per 100 people while cellular subscription is higher at 50 per 100 people has a mobile phone.

Internet is now also gaining popularity. In fact, 185,000 have been estimated to be using the Internet as of 2008 and should have considerably increased by now.

With regards to media, Nicaraguans have access to 63 AM and 32 FM radio stations while there are 3 TV stations (with 7 repeaters).