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Russia - Communications (Facts)

Telephones - main lines in use: 40.1 million (2005) Telephones - mobile cellular: 120 million (2005) Telephone system: general assessment: the telephone system is experiencing significant changes; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; the estimated number of mobile subscribers jumped from fewer than 1 million in 1998 to 120 million in 2005; a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied, but fixed-line operators continue to grow their services domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density international: country code - 7; Russia is connected internationally by 3 undersea fiber-optic cables; digital switches in several cities provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems Radio broadcast stations: AM 323, FM 1,500 est., shortwave 62 (2004) Television broadcast stations: 7,306 (1998) Internet country code: .ru Internet hosts: 1.98 million (2006) Internet users: 25.689 million (2006)