Lesotho
general assessment: rudimentary system consisting of a
modest 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 was tasked with
providing an additional 50,000 fixed-line connections within five
years, a target not met; mobile-cellular service dominates the
market and is expanding with a subscribership exceeding 30 per 100
persons in 2009; rural services are scant
international: country code - 266; satellite earth station - 1
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2009)
Liberia
general assessment: the limited services available are found
almost exclusively in the capital Monrovia; fixed-line service
stagnant and extremely limited; telephone coverage extended to a
number of other towns and rural areas by four mobile-cellular
network operators
domestic: mobile-cellular subscription base growing and teledensity
reached 25 per 100 persons in 2009
international: country code - 231; satellite earth station - 1
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2009)
Libya
general assessment: telecommunications system is state-owned
and service is poor, but investment is being made to upgrade; state
retains monopoly in fixed-line services; mobile-cellular telephone
system became operational in 1996
domestic: multiple providers for a mobile telephone system that is
growing rapidly; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity
is approaching 100 telephones per 100 persons
international: country code - 218; satellite earth stations - 4
Intelsat, NA Arabsat, and NA Intersputnik; submarine cable to France
and Italy; microwave radio relay to Tunisia and Egypt; tropospheric
scatter to Greece; participant in Medarabtel (2009)
Liechtenstein
general assessment: automatic telephone system
domestic: fixed-line and mobile-cellular services widely available;
combined telephone service subscribership exceeds 150 per 100 persons
international: country code - 423; linked to Swiss networks by cable
and microwave radio relay (2008)
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 fixed-line connections;
mobile-cellular teledensity stands at about 140 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
(2008)
Luxembourg
general assessment: highly developed, completely
automated and efficient system, mainly buried cables
domestic: fixed line teledensity over 50 per 100 persons; nationwide
mobile-cellular telephone system with market for mobile-cellular
phones virtually saturated
international: country code - 352 (2008)
Macau
general assessment: fairly modern communication facilities
maintained for domestic and international services
domestic: termination of monopoly over mobile-cellular telephone
services in 2001 spurred sharp increase in subscriptions with
mobile-cellular teledensity approaching 200 per 100 persons in 2010;
fixed-line subscribership appears to have peaked and is now in
decline
international: country code - 853; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3
submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, the Middle
East, and Europe; HF radiotelephone communication facility;
satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (2010)
Macedonia
general assessment: competition from the mobile-cellular
segment of the telecommunications market has led to a drop in
fixed-line telephone subscriptions
domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone
subscribership about 115 per 100 persons
international: country code - 389 (2009)
Madagascar
general assessment: system is above average for the
region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the
late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is
poorly developed; have been adding fixed line connections since 2005
domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about
30 per 100 persons
international: country code - 261; SEACOM undersea fiber-optic cable
and the Lion undersea cable connecting to Reunion and Mauritius;
satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1
Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean region) (2009)
Malawi
general assessment: rudimentary; privatization of Malawi
Telecommunications (MTL), a necessary step in bringing improvement
to telecommunications services, completed in 2006
domestic: limited fixed-line subscribership of about 1 per 100
persons; mobile-cellular services are expanding but network coverage
is limited and is based around the main urban areas; mobile-cellular
subscribership about 15 per 100 persons
international: country code - 265; satellite earth stations - 2
Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Atlantic Ocean) (2009)