Jordan
general assessment: service has improved recently with the
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
domestic: microwave radio relay transmission and coaxial and
fiber-optic cable are employed on trunk lines; considerable use of
mobile cellular systems; Internet service is available
international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat, 1 Arabsat, and
29 land and maritime Inmarsat terminals; fiber-optic cable to Saudi
Arabia and microwave radio relay link with Egypt and Syria;
connection to international submarine cable FLAG (Fiber-Optic Link
Around the Globe); participant in MEDARABTEL; international links
total about 4,000
Kazakhstan
general assessment: service is poor; equipment antiquated
domestic: intercity by landline and microwave radio relay; mobile
cellular systems are available in most of Kazakhstan
international: international traffic with other former Soviet
republics and China carried by landline and microwave radio relay
and with other countries by satellite and by the Trans-Asia-Europe
(TAE) fiber-optic cable; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat
Kenya
general assessment: unreliable; little attempt to modernize
except for service to business
domestic: trunks are primarily microwave radio relay; business data
commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system
international: satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat
Kiribati
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)
note: Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative
Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service
Korea, North
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
and 1 Russian (Indian Ocean region); other international connections
through Moscow and Beijing
Korea, South
general assessment: excellent domestic and
international services
domestic: NA
international: fiber-optic submarine cable to China; the
Russia-Korea-Japan submarine cable; satellite earth stations - 3
Intelsat (2 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat
(Pacific Ocean region)
Kuwait
general assessment: the quality of service is excellent
domestic: new telephone exchanges provide a large capacity for new
subscribers; trunk traffic is carried by microwave radio relay,
coaxial cable, and open-wire and fiber-optic cable; a cellular
telephone system operates throughout Kuwait, and the country is well
supplied with pay telephones
international: coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Saudi
Arabia; linked to Bahrain, Qatar, UAE via the Fiber-Optic Gulf (FOG)
cable; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 2
Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 2 Arabsat
Kyrgyzstan
general assessment: poorly developed; about 100,000
unsatisfied applications for household telephones
domestic: principally microwave radio relay; one cellular provider,
probably limited to Bishkek region
international: connections with other CIS countries by landline or
microwave radio relay and with other countries by leased connections
with Moscow international gateway switch and by satellite; satellite
earth stations - 1 Intersputnik and 1 Intelsat; connected
internationally by the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line
Laos
general assessment: service to general public is poor but
improving with over 20,000 telephones currently in service and an
additional 48,000 expected by 2001; the government relies on a
radiotelephone network to communicate with remote areas
domestic: radiotelephone communications
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian
Ocean region)
Latvia
general assessment: inadequate, but is being modernized to
provide an international capability independent of the Moscow
international switch; more facilities are being installed for
individual use
domestic: expansion underway in intercity trunk line connections,
rural exchanges, and mobile systems; still many unsatisfied
subscriber applications
international: international connections are now available via cable
and a satellite earth station at Riga, enabling direct connections
for most calls (1998)