domestic: in 1997, telecommunications links were established
between Mazar-e Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad, and Kabul
through satellite and microwave systems
international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
linked only to Iran and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region);
commercial satellite telephone center in Ghazni
Albania:
general assessment: Albania has the poorest telephone
service in Europe with fewer than two telephones per 100
inhabitants; it is doubtful that every village has telephone service
domestic: obsolete wire system; no longer provides a telephone for every village; in 1992, following the fall of the communist government, peasants cut the wire to about 1,000 villages and used it to build fences
international: inadequate; international traffic carried by microwave radio relay from the Tirana exchange to Italy and Greece
Algeria:
general assessment: telephone density in Algeria is very
low, not exceeding five telephones per 100 persons; the number of
fixed main lines has been increased in the last few years to a
little more than 2,000,000, but only about two-thirds of these have
subscribers; much of the infrastructure is outdated and inefficient
domestic: good service in north but sparse in south; domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations (20 additional domestic earth stations are planned)
international: 5 submarine cables; microwave radio relay to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; coaxial cable to Morocco and Tunisia; participant in Medarabtel; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik, and 1 Arabsat (1998)
American Samoa:
general assessment: NA
domestic: good telex, telegraph, facsimile and cellular telephone services; domestic satellite system with 1 Comsat earth station