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: country code - 965; linked to international submarine
cable Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG); linked to Bahrain,
Qatar, UAE via the Fiber-Optic Gulf (FOG) cable; coaxial cable and
microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; satellite earth stations - 6
(3 Intelsat - 1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean, 1 Inmarsat -
Atlantic Ocean, and 2 Arabsat)
Kyrgyzstan
general assessment: telecommunications infrastructure is
growing; fixed line penetration remains low and concentrated in
urban areas
domestic: multiple mobile cellular service providers with growing
coverage; mobile cellular subscribership reached 40 per 100 persons
in 2007
international: country code - 996; 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 - 2 (1
Intersputnik, 1 Intelsat); connected internationally by the
Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line (2007)
Laos
general assessment: service to general public is poor but
improving; the government relies on a radiotelephone network to
communicate with remote areas
domestic: multiple service providers; mobile cellular usage growing
rapidly; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership
about 25 per 100 persons
international: country code - 856; satellite earth station - 1
Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) (2007)
Latvia
general assessment: recent efforts focused on bringing
competition to the telecommunications sector; the number of fixed
lines is decreasing as wireless telephone service expands
domestic: number of telecommunications operators has grown rapidly
since the fixed-line market opened to competition in 2003; combined
fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership is roughly 125 per 100
persons
international: country code - 371; the Latvian network is now
connected via fiber optic cable to Estonia, Finland, and Sweden
(2007)
Lebanon
general assessment: repair of the telecommunications system,
severely damaged during the civil war, now complete
domestic: two wireless networks provide good service; political
instability hampers privatization and deployment of new
technologies; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership
50 per 100 persons
international: country code - 961; submarine cable link to Cyprus;
satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic
Ocean); coaxial cable to Syria (2007)
Lesotho
general assessment: rudimentary system consisting of a
modest but growing number of landlines, a small microwave radio
relay system, and a small radiotelephone communication system;
mobile-cellular telephone system is expanding
domestic: privatized in 2001, Telecom Lesotho tasked with providing
an additional 50,000 fixed-line connections within five years, a
target not met; mobile-cellular service is expanding with a
subscribership approaching 25 per 100 persons; rural services are
scant
international: country code - 266; satellite earth station - 1
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007)
Liberia
general assessment: the limited services available are found
almost exclusively in the capital Monrovia; coverage extended to a
number of other towns and rural areas by four mobile-cellular
network operators
domestic: fixed line service stagnant and extremely limited;
mobile-cellular subscription base growing and teledensity
approaching 20 per 100 persons
international: country code - 231; satellite earth station - 1
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007)
Libya
general assessment: telecommunications system is being
modernized; mobile cellular telephone system became operational in
1996; combined fixed line and mobile telephone density approached 90
telephones per 100 persons in 2007
domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, cellular,
tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth
stations
international: country code - 218; satellite earth stations - 4
Intelsat, NA Arabsat, and NA Intersputnik; submarine cables to
France and Italy; microwave radio relay to Tunisia and Egypt;
tropospheric scatter to Greece; participant in Medarabtel (2007)
Liechtenstein
general assessment: automatic telephone system
domestic: NA
international: country code - 423; linked to Swiss networks by cable
and microwave radio relay
Lithuania
general assessment: adequate; being modernized to provide
improved international capability and better residential access
domestic: rapid expansion of mobile-cellular services has resulted
in a steady decline in the number of main line subscriptions;
mobile-cellular teledensity has increased to about 135 per 100
persons while fixed-line teledensity has dropped to 22 per 100
persons
international: country code - 370; major international connections
to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by submarine cable for further
transmission by satellite; landline connections to Latvia and Poland
(2007)