Telecommunication in Asia and the Pacific
The statistics provided on this page have been created with the most current information available as of July 2004. Click on the following links for Chart 2 and assessments of the telecommunications infrastructure for the selected countries. Refer to the bibliography page for a complete list of references, years used for the recorded statistics and an explanation of the symbols used to distinguish category sources.
Chart 1: |
Personal Computers+ | Internet Usrs* | Internet Hosts* | Internet Service Providers# | ISDN Subscribers* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia |
10,000,000 |
7,531,300 |
2,489,152 |
603 |
335,868 |
China |
25,000,000 |
77,907,800 |
80,676 |
3 |
1,563,198 |
Hong Kong |
26,000,000 |
3,372,200 |
392,006 |
17 |
14,072 |
India |
6,000,000 |
20,442,300 |
90,505 |
43 |
26,838 |
Indonesia |
2,300,000 |
4,954,400 |
60,674 |
24 |
5,350 |
Japan |
44,400,000 |
75,360,600 |
8,617,946 |
73 |
14,645,522 |
Malaysia |
3,000,000 |
7,333,500 |
85,905 |
7 |
27,528 |
New Zealand |
1,500,000 |
2,002,300 |
436,833 |
36 |
-- |
Philippines |
1,700,000 |
4,559,100 |
43,246 |
33 |
1,281 |
Singapore |
2,100,000 |
2,332,400 |
275,116 |
9 |
54,938 |
South Korea |
12,000,000 |
29,754,200 |
480,827 |
11 |
182,189 |
Taiwan |
5,000,000 |
8,360,600 |
1,734,269 |
8 |
43,640 |
Thailand |
1,700,000 |
4,254,900 |
83,965 |
15 |
10,392 |
Chart 2: |
Telephone Lines |
Mobile Telephone Users* | Television Receivers+ | Capital Investment in Telecommunications $US Millions* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia |
10,312,000 |
13,396,800 |
14,129,000 |
4,208.8 |
China |
185,109,000 |
228,406,500 |
380,000,000 |
32,877.3 |
Hong Kong |
4,187,000 |
5,940,200 |
3,105,000 |
911.5 |
India |
41,550,000 |
20,783,000 |
79,000,000 |
3,934.0 |
Indonesia |
7,631,000 |
11,046,400 |
31,700,000 |
2,659.8 |
Japan |
75,291,000 |
85,555,300 |
92,000,000 |
22,400.8 |
Malaysia |
4,913,000 |
8,690,100 |
3,900,000 |
1,055.4 |
New Zealand |
2,003,000 |
2,610,800 |
2,000,000 |
464.1 |
Philippines |
3,577,000 |
17,333,000 |
11,000,000 |
917.1 |
Singapore |
2,037,000 |
3,077,100 |
1,200,000 |
384.8 |
South Korea |
22,866 |
31,591,800 |
17,229,000 |
7,181.6 |
Taiwan |
12,687,000 |
21,955,300 |
9,660,000 |
3,673.2 |
Thailand |
6,210,000 |
8,918,000 |
17,200,000 |
1,575.7 |
CIA Analysis of Telecommunications Infrastructure:
Source: CIA World Factbook
Australia:
General Assessment: excellent domestic and international service.
Domestic: domestic satellite system; much use of radiotelephone in areas of low population density; rapid growth of mobile cellular telephones.
International: country code - 61; submarine cables to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (4 Indian Ocean and 6 Pacific Ocean), 2 Inmarsat (Indian and Pacific Ocean regions) (1998).
Internet Country Code: .auChina:
General Assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns.
Domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place.
International: country code - 86; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000).
Internet Country Code: .cnHong Kong:
General Assessment: modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services.
Domestic: microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic network.
International: country code - 852; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China; access to 5 international submarine cables providing connections to ASEAN member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe.
Internet Country Code: .hkIndia:
General Assessment: mediocre service; local and long distance service provided throughout all regions of the country, with services primarily concentrated in the urban areas; major objective is to continue to expand and modernize long-distance network to keep pace with rapidly growing number of local subscriber lines; steady improvement is taking place with the recent admission of private and private-public investors, but, with telephone density at about two for each 100 persons and a waiting list of over 2 million, demand for main line telephone service will not be satisfied for a very long time.
Domestic: local service is provided by microwave radio relay and coaxial cable, with open wire and obsolete electromechanical and manual switchboard systems still in use in rural areas; starting in the 1980s, a substantial amount of digital switch gear has been introduced for local and long-distance service; long-distance traffic is carried mostly by coaxial cable and low-capacity microwave radio relay; since 1985, significant trunk capacity has been added in the form of fiber-optic cable and a domestic satellite system with 254 earth stations; mobile cellular service was introduced in 1994 and is organized nation-wide into four metropolitan cities and 19 telecom circles.
International: country code - 91; satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region); nine gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 4 submarine cables - LOCOM linking Chennai (Madras) to Penang; Indo-UAE-Gulf cable linking Mumbai (Bombay) to Al Fujayrah, UAE; India-SEA-ME-WE-3, SEA-ME-WE-2 with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay); Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with landing site at Mumbai (Bombay) (2000).
Internet Country Code: .inIndonesia:
General Assessment: domestic service fair, international service good.
Domestic: interisland microwave system and HF radio police net; domestic satellite communications system.
International: country code - 62; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean).
Internet Country Code: .idJapan:
General Assessment: excellent domestic and international service.
Domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind.
International: country code - 81; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam) (1999).
Internet Country Code: .jpMalaysia:
General Assessment: modern system; international service excellent.
Domestic: good intercity service provided on Peninsular Malaysia mainly by microwave radio relay; adequate intercity microwave radio relay network between Sabah and Sarawak via Brunei; domestic satellite system with 2 earth stations.
International: country code - 60; submarine cables to India, Hong Kong, and Singapore; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) (2001).
Internet Country Code: .myNew Zealand:
General Assessment: excellent domestic and international systems.
Domestic: NA
International: country code - 64; submarine cables to Australia and Fiji; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean).
Internet Country Code: .nzPhilippines:
general assessment: good international radiotelephone and submarine cable services; domestic and inter-island service adequate.
Domestic: domestic satellite system with 11 earth stations.
International: country code - 63; 9 international gateways; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Pacific Ocean); submarine cables to Hong Kong, Guam, Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan.
Internet Country Code: .phSingapore:
general assessment: excellent service.
domestic: excellent domestic facilities.
international: country code - 65; submarine cables to Malaysia (Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia), Indonesia, and the Philippines; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region).
Internet Country Code: .sgSouth Korea:
General Assessment: excellent domestic and international services.
Domestic: NA
International: country code - 82; 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).
Internet Country Code: .krTaiwan:
General Assessment: provides telecommunications service for every business and private need.
Domestic: thoroughly modern; completely digitalized.
International: country code - 886; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); submarine cables to Japan (Okinawa), Philippines, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe.
Internet Country Code: .twThailand:
General Assessment: service to general public adequate, but investment in technological upgrades reduced by recession; bulk of service to government activities provided by multichannel cable and microwave radio relay network.
Domestic: microwave radio relay and multichannel cable; domestic satellite system being developed.
International: country code - 66; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean).
Internet Country Code: .thContent: Greg Russell
gwruss@lamar.colostate.eduSupervisor: Naomi Lederer