| Countries (A to Z) |
Description |
| Afghanistan |
very limited telephone and telegraph service; many Afghans utilize growing cellular phone coverage in major cities |
| Albania |
despite new investment in fixed lines, the density of main lines remains the lowest in Europe with roughly 7 lines per 100 people; however, cellular telephone use is widespread and generally effective |
| Algeria |
telephone density in Algeria is very low, not exceeding 5 telephones per 100 persons; the number of fixed main lines increased in the last few years to nearly 2.6 million, but only about two-thirds of these have subscribers; much of the infrastructure is outdated and inefficient |
| Angola |
telephone service limited mostly to government and business use; HF radiotelephone used extensively for military links |
| Antarctica |
local systems at some research stations |
| Argentina |
by opening the telecommunications market to competition and foreign investment with the "Telecommunications Liberalization Plan of 1998," Argentina encouraged the growth of modern telecommunications technology; fiber-optic cable trunk lines are being installed between all major cities; the major networks are entirely digital and the availability of telephone service is improving; however, telephone density is presently minimal, and making telephone service universally available will take time |
| Armenia |
system inadequate; now 90% privately owned and undergoing modernization and expansion |
| Aruba |
modern fully automatic telecommunications system |
| Australia |
excellent domestic and international service |
| Austria |
highly developed and efficient |
| Azerbaijan |
inadequate; requires considerable expansion and modernization; teledensity of 14 main lines per 100 persons is low (2002) |
| Bahamas, The |
modern facilities |
| Bahrain |
modern system |
| Bangladesh |
totally inadequate for a modern country |
| Belarus |
Belarus lags behind its neighbors in upgrading telecommunications infrastructure; state-owned Beltelcom, is the sole provider of fixed line local and long distance service; modernization of the network to digital switching progressing slowly |
| Belgium |
highly developed, technologically advanced, and completely automated domestic and international telephone and telegraph facilities |
| Belize |
above-average system |
| Bermuda |
good |
| Bhutan |
telecommunications facilities are poor |
| Bolivia |
new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile cellular telephone use expanding rapidly |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
telephone and telegraph network needs modernization and expansion; many urban areas are below average as contrasted with services in other former Yugoslav republics |
| Botswana |
the system is expanding with the growth of mobile cellular service and participation in regional development |
| Brazil |
good working system |
| British Indian Ocean Territory |
separate facilities for military and public needs are available |
| British Virgin Islands |
worldwide telephone service |
| Brunei |
service throughout the country is excellent; international service is good to Southeast Asia, Middle East, Western Europe, and the US |
| Bulgaria |
extensive but antiquated |
| Burkina Faso |
all services only fair |
| Burma |
barely meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government; international service is fair |
| Burundi |
primitive system |
| Cambodia |
adequate landline and/or cellular service in Phnom Penh and other provincial cities; mobile phone coverage is rapidly expanding in rural areas |
| Cameroon |
available only to business and government |
| Canada |
excellent service provided by modern technology |
| Cape Verde |
effective system, extensive modernization from 1996-2000 following partial privatization in 1995 |
| Cayman Islands |
reasonably good system |
| Central African Republic |
fair system |
| Chad |
primitive system |
| Chile |
modern system based on extensive microwave radio relay facilities |
| China |
domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns; China continues to develop its telecommunications infrastructure, and is partnering with foreign providers to expand its global reach; 3 of China's 6 major telecommunications operators are part of an international consortium which, in December 2006, signed an agreement with Verizon Business to build the first next-generation optical cable system directly linking the US mainland and China |
| Christmas Island |
service provided by the Australian network |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
connected within Australia's telecommunication system |
| Colombia |
modern system in many respects |
| Comoros |
sparse system of microwave radio relay and HF radiotelephone communication stations |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of the |
poor |
| Congo, Republic of the |
services barely adequate for government use; key exchanges are in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, and Loubomo; intercity lines frequently out of order |
| Cook Islands |
Telecom Cook Islands offers international direct dialing, Internet, email, fax, and Telex |
| Costa Rica |
the parastatal monopoly provides good domestic telephone service in terms of breadth of coverage; restricted cellular telephone service |
| Cuba |
greater investment beginning in 1994 and the establishment of a new Ministry of Information Technology and Communications in 2000 has resulted in improvements in the system; wireless service is expensive and remains restricted to foreigners and regime elites, many Cubans procure wireless service illegally with the help of foreigners |
| Cyprus |
excellent in both area under government control and area administered by Turkish Cypriots |
| Czech Republic |
privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily; growth in the use of mobile cellular telephones is particularly vigorous |
| Côte d'Ivoire |
well developed by African standards but operating well below capacity |
| Denmark |
excellent telephone and telegraph services |
| Djibouti |
telephone facilities in the city of Djibouti are adequate, as are the microwave radio relay connections to outlying areas of the country |
| Ecuador |
generally elementary but being expanded |
| Egypt |
large system; underwent extensive upgrading during 1990s and is reasonably modern; Internet access and cellular service are available |
| Equatorial Guinea |
poor system with adequate government services |
| Eritrea |
inadequate |
| Estonia |
foreign investment in the form of joint business ventures greatly improved telephone service; substantial fiber-optic cable systems carry telephone, TV, and radio traffic in the digital mode; Internet services are available throughout most of the country |
| Ethiopia |
adequate for government use |
| Faroe Islands |
good international communications; good domestic facilities |
| Fiji |
modern local, interisland, and international (wire/radio integrated) public and special-purpose telephone, telegraph, and teleprinter facilities; regional radio communications center |
| Finland |
modern system with excellent service |
| France |
highly developed |
| Gabon |
adequate service by African standards and improving with the help of the growing mobile cell system |
| Gambia, The |
adequate; a packet switched data network is available |
| Germany |
Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems; as a result of intensive capital expenditures since reunification, the formerly backward system of the eastern part of the country, dating back to World War II, has been modernized and integrated with that of the western part |
| Ghana |
poor to fair system; Internet accessible; many rural communities not yet connected; expansion of services is underway |
| Gibraltar |
adequate, automatic domestic system and adequate international facilities |
| Greece |
adequate, modern networks reach all areas; good mobile telephone and international service |
| Greenland |
adequate domestic and international service provided by satellite, cables and microwave radio relay; totally digitalized in 1995 |
| Grenada |
automatic, islandwide telephone system |
| Guam |
modern system, integrated with US facilities for direct dialing, including free use of 800 numbers |
| Guatemala |
fairly modern network centered in the city of Guatemala |
| Guinea |
poor to fair system of open-wire lines, small radiotelephone communication stations, and new microwave radio relay system |
| Guinea-Bissau |
small system |
| Guyana |
fair system for long-distance service |
| Haiti |
domestic facilities barely adequate; international facilities slightly better |
| Holy See (Vatican City) |
automatic digital exchange |
| Honduras |
inadequate system |
| Hong Kong |
modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services |
| Hungary |
the telephone system has been modernized and is capable of satisfying all requests for telecommunication service |
| Iceland |
extensive domestic service |
| India |
recent deregulation and liberalization of telecommunications laws and policies have prompted rapid growth; local and long distance service provided throughout all regions of the country, with services primarily concentrated in the urban areas; steady improvement is taking place with the recent admission of private and private-public investors, but telephone density remains low at about 10 for each 100 persons nationwide and only 1 per 100 persons in rural areas; there remains a national waiting list of over 1.7 million; fastest growth is in cellular service with modest growth in fixed lines |
| Indonesia |
domestic service fair, international service good |
| Iran |
inadequate, but currently being modernized and expanded with the goal of not only improving the efficiency and increasing the volume of the urban service but also bringing telephone service to several thousand villages, not presently connected |
| Iraq |
the aftermath of the liberation of Iraq in 2003 severely disrupted telecommunications throughout Iraq including international connections; USAID repaired switching capabilities and constructed a mobile and satellite communication facility; landlines now exceed pre-war levels |
| Ireland |
modern digital system using cable and microwave radio relay |
| Israel |
most highly developed system in the Middle East although not the largest |
| Italy |
modern, well developed, fast; fully automated telephone, telex, and data services |
| Jamaica |
fully automatic domestic telephone network |
| Japan |
excellent domestic and international service |
| Jordan |
service has improved recently with increased use of digital switching equipment, but better access to the telephone system is needed in the rural areas and easier access to pay telephones is needed by the urban public |
| Kazakhstan |
service is poor; equipment antiquated |
| Kenya |
unreliable; little attempt to modernize except for service to business |
| Kiribati |
generally good quality national and international service |
| Korea, South |
excellent domestic and international services |
| Kuwait |
the quality of service is excellent |
| Kyrgyzstan |
telecommunications infrastructure is growing; fixed line penetration remains low and concentrated in urban areas |
| Laos |
service to general public is poor but improving; the government relies on a radiotelephone network to communicate with remote areas |
| Latvia |
recent efforts focused on bringing competition to the telecommunications sector, beginning in 2003; the number of fixed lines is decreasing as wireless telephony expands |
| Lebanon |
repair of the telecommunications system, severely damaged during the civil war, now complete |
| Lesotho |
rudimentary system |
| Liberia |
the limited services available are found almost exclusively in the capital Monrovia |
| Libya |
telecommunications system is being modernized; mobile cellular telephone system became operational in 1996 |
| Liechtenstein |
automatic telephone system |
| Lithuania |
inadequate, but is being modernized to provide an improved international capability and better residential access |
| Luxembourg |
highly developed, completely automated and efficient system, mainly buried cables |
| Macau |
fairly modern communication facilities maintained for domestic and international services |
| Madagascar |
system is above average for the region |
| Malaysia |
modern system; international service excellent |
| Maldives |
telephone services have improved; each island now has at least 1 public telephone, and there are mobile cellular networks with expanding subscribership |
| Mali |
domestic system unreliable but improving; provides only minimal service |
| Malta |
automatic system satisfies normal requirements |
| Marshall Islands |
digital switching equipment; modern services include telex, cellular, internet, international calling, caller ID, and leased data circuits |
| Mauritania |
limited system of cable and open-wire lines, minor microwave radio relay links, and radiotelephone communications stations (improvements being made) |
| Mauritius |
small system with good service |
| Mayotte |
small system administered by French Department of Posts and Telecommunications |
| Mexico |
low telephone density with about 18 main lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; the opening to competition in January 1997 improved prospects for development, but Telmex remains dominant |
| Micronesia, Federated States of |
adequate system |
| Moldova |
inadequate, outmoded, poor service outside Chisinau; some modernization is under way |
| Monaco |
modern automatic telephone system |
| Mongolia |
network is improving with international direct dialing available in many areas |
| Montserrat |
modern and fully digitalized |
| Morocco |
modern system with all important capabilities; however, density is low with only 4 main lines available for each 100 persons |
| Mozambique |
fair system but not available generally (extremely low density with less than 1 main line per 100 persons) |
| Namibia |
good system; about 6 telephones for each 100 persons |
| Nauru |
adequate local and international radiotelephone communication provided via Australian facilities |
| Nepal |
poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication service and mobile cellular telephone network |
| Netherlands |
highly developed and well maintained |
| Netherlands Antilles |
generally adequate facilities |
| New Zealand |
excellent domestic and international systems |
| Nicaragua |
inadequate system being upgraded by foreign investment |
| Niger |
small system of wire, radio telephone communications, and microwave radio relay links concentrated in the southwestern area of Niger |
| Nigeria |
expansion and modernization of the fixed-line telephone network has been slow due to faltering efforts at privatization |
| Norfolk Island |
adequate |
| Norway |
modern in all respects; one of the most advanced telecommunications networks in Europe |
| Oman |
modern system consisting of open-wire, microwave, and radiotelephone communication stations; limited coaxial cable |
| Pakistan |
the telecom infrastructure is improving dramatically with foreign and domestic investments into fixed-line and mobile networks; mobile cellular subscribership has skyrocketed, approaching 50 million in late 2006, up from only about 300,000 in 2000; fiber systems are being constructed throughout the country to aid in network growth; main line availability has risen only marginally over the same period and there are still difficulties getting main line service to rural areas. |
| Panama |
domestic and international facilities well developed |
| Papua New Guinea |
services are adequate; facilities provide radiotelephone and telegraph, coastal radio, aeronautical radio, and international radio communication services |
| Paraguay |
meager telephone service; principal switching center is in Asuncion |
| Peru |
adequate for most requirements |
| Philippines |
good international radiotelephone and submarine cable services; domestic and inter-island service adequate |
| Pitcairn Islands |
satellite phone services |
| Poland |
modernization of the telecommunications network has accelerated with market based competition finalized in 2003; fixed-line service, dominated by the former state-owned company, is dwarfed by the growth in wireless telephony |
| Portugal |
Portugal's telephone system has achieved a state-of-the-art network with broadband, high-speed capabilities |
| Puerto Rico |
modern system integrated with that of the US by high-capacity submarine cable and Intelsat with high-speed data capability |
| Qatar |
modern system centered in Doha |
| Romania |
rapidly improving domestic and international service, especially in wireless telephony |
| Russia |
the telephone system is experiencing significant changes; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; the estimated number of mobile subscribers jumped from fewer than 1 million in 1998 to 120 million in 2005; a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied, but fixed-line operators continue to grow their services |
| Rwanda |
telephone system primarily serves business and government |
| Saint Helena |
can communicate worldwide |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis |
good inter-island and international connections |
| Saint Lucia |
adequate system |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon |
adequate |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
adequate system |
| Samoa |
adequate |
| San Marino |
adequate connections |
| Saudi Arabia |
modern system |
| Senegal |
good system |
| Serbia and Montenegro |
modernization of the telecommunications network has been slow as a result of damage stemming from the 1999 war and transition to a competitive market-based system; network was only 65% digitalized in 2005 |
| Seychelles |
effective system |
| Sierra Leone |
marginal telephone and telegraph service |
| Singapore |
excellent service |
| Slovakia |
Slovakia has a modern telecommunications system that has expanded dramatically in recent years with the growth in cellular services |
| Somalia |
the public telecommunications system was almost completely destroyed or dismantled by the civil war factions; private wireless companies offer service in most major cities and charge the lowest international rates on the continent |
| South Africa |
the system is the best developed and most modern in Africa |
| Spain |
generally adequate, modern facilities; teledensity is 45 main lines for each 100 persons |
| Sri Lanka |
telephone services have improved significantly and are available in most parts of the country |
| Sudan |
large, well-equipped system by regional standards and being upgraded; cellular communications started in 1996 and have expanded substantially |
| Suriname |
international facilities are good |
| Svalbard |
probably adequate |
| Swaziland |
a somewhat modern but not an advanced system |
| Sweden |
excellent domestic and international facilities; automatic system |
| Switzerland |
excellent domestic and international services |
| Syria |
fair system currently undergoing significant improvement and digital upgrades, including fiber-optic technology |
| São Tomé and Príncipe |
adequate facilities |
| Taiwan |
provides telecommunications service for every business and private need |
| Tajikistan |
poorly developed and not well maintained; many towns are not linked to the national network |
| Tanzania |
fair system operating below capacity and being modernized for better service; small aperture terminal (VSAT) system under construction |
| Thailand |
high quality system, especially in urban areas like Bangkok |
| Togo |
fair system based on a network of microwave radio relay routes supplemented by open-wire lines and a mobile cellular system |
| Tokelau |
modern satellite-based communications system |
| Tonga |
competition between Tonga Telecommunications Corporation (TCC) and Shoreline Communications Tonga (SCT) is accelerating expansion of telecommunications; SCT recently granted authority to develop high-speed digital service for telephone, Internet, and television |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
excellent international service; good local service |
| Tunisia |
above the African average and continuing to be upgraded; key centers are Sfax, Sousse, Bizerte, and Tunis; Internet access available |
| Turkey |
undergoing rapid modernization and expansion especially with cellular telephones |
| Turkmenistan |
poorly developed |
| Turks and Caicos Islands |
fully digital system with international direct dialing |
| Tuvalu |
serves particular needs for internal communications |
| Uganda |
seriously inadequate; 2 cellular systems have been introduced, but a sharp increase in the number of main lines is essential; e-mail and Internet services are available |
| Ukraine |
Ukraine's telecommunication development plan, running through 2005, emphasizes improving domestic trunk lines, international connections, and the mobile cellular system |
| United Arab Emirates |
modern fiber-optic integrated services; digital network with rapidly growing use of mobile cellular telephones; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubai |
| United Kingdom |
technologically advanced domestic and international system |
| United States |
a large, technologically advanced, multipurpose communications system |
| Uruguay |
fully digitalized |
| Uzbekistan |
antiquated and inadequate; in serious need of modernization |
| Venezuela |
modern and expanding |
| Vietnam |
Vietnam is putting considerable effort into modernization and expansion of its telecommunication system, but its performance continues to lag behind that of its more modern neighbors |
| Virgin Islands |
modern system with total digital switching, uses fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay |
| Wake Island |
satellite communications; 2 DSN circuits off the Overseas Telephone System (OTS) |
| Western Sahara |
sparse and limited system |
| Yemen |
since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network |
| Zambia |
facilities are aging but still among the best in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Zimbabwe |
system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; more than 100,000 outstanding requests for connection despite an equally large number of installed but unused main lines |
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