Tuvalu
general assessment: serves particular needs for internal
communications
domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands
international: country code - 688
Uganda
general assessment: seriously inadequate; two cellular
systems have been introduced, but a sharp increase in the number of
main lines is essential; e-mail and Internet services are available
domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and
radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile cellular
systems for short-range traffic
international: country code - 256; satellite earth stations - 1
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; analog links to Kenya and
Tanzania
Ukraine
general assessment: Ukraine's telecommunication development
plan, running through 2005, emphasizes improving domestic trunk
lines, international connections, and the mobile cellular system
domestic: at independence in December 1991, Ukraine inherited a
telephone system that was antiquated, inefficient, and in disrepair;
more than 3.5 million applications for telephones could not be
satisfied; telephone density is now rising slowly and the domestic
trunk system is being improved; the mobile cellular telephone system
is expanding at a high rate
international: country code - 380; two new domestic trunk lines are
a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and three
Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic
Trans-European Lines (TEL) project that connects 18 countries;
additional international service is provided by the
Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine cable and
by earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik
satellite systems
United Arab Emirates
general assessment: modern fiber-optic
integrated services; digital network with rapidly growing use of
mobile cellular telephones; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubai
domestic: microwave radio relay, fiber optic and coaxial cable
international: country code - 971; satellite earth stations - 3
Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat;
submarine cables to Qatar, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan;
tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi
Arabia
United Kingdom
general assessment: technologically advanced domestic
and international system
domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio relay, and
fiber-optic systems
international: country code - 44; 40 coaxial submarine cables;
satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3
Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Eutelsat;
at least 8 large international switching centers
United States
general assessment: a large, technologically advanced,
multipurpose communications system
domestic: a large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio
relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries every form of
telephone traffic; a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile
telephone traffic throughout the country
international: country code - 1; 24 ocean cable systems in use;
satellite earth stations - 61 Intelsat (45 Atlantic Ocean and 16
Pacific Ocean), 5 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 4
Inmarsat (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions) (2000)
Uruguay
general assessment: fully digitalized
domestic: most modern facilities concentrated in Montevideo; new
nationwide microwave radio relay network
international: country code - 598; satellite earth stations - 2
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2002)
Uzbekistan
general assessment: antiquated and inadequate; in serious
need of modernization
domestic: the domestic telephone system is being expanded and
technologically improved, particularly in Tashkent (Toshkent) and
Samarqand, under contracts with prominent companies in
industrialized countries; moreover, by 1998, six cellular networks
had been placed in operation - four of the GSM type (Global System
for Mobile Communication), one D-AMPS type (Digital Advanced Mobile
Phone System), and one AMPS type (Advanced Mobile Phone System)
international: country code - 998; linked by landline or microwave
radio relay with CIS member states and to other countries by leased
connection via the Moscow international gateway switch; after the
completion of the Uzbek link to the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE)
fiber-optic cable, Uzbekistan will be independent of Russian
facilities for international communications; Inmarsat also provides
an international connection, albeit an expensive one; satellite
earth stations - NA (1998)
Vanuatu
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: country code - 678; satellite earth station - 1
Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)
Venezuela
general assessment: modern and expanding
domestic: domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations; recent
substantial improvement in telephone service in rural areas;
substantial increase in digitalization of exchanges and trunk lines;
installation of a national interurban fiber-optic network capable of
digital multimedia services
international: country code - 58; 3 submarine coaxial cables;
satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1
PanAmSat; participating with Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in
the construction of an international fiber-optic network