Short facts about communications in Saudi Arabia
| Telephones -
main lines in use: |
3.1 million
(1998) |
| Telephones -
mobile cellular: |
1 million
note: in 1998,
the government contracted for the installation of 575,000 additional Group
Speciale Mobile (GSM) cellular telephone lines over 15 months to raise the total
number of subscribers to more than one million; Riyadh planned to further expand
the GSM system in 1999 by adding an additional one million lines
(1998) |
| Telephone
system: |
general
assessment: modern system
domestic:
extensive microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable
systems
international: microwave radio relay to Bahrain, Jordan,
Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Yemen, and Sudan; coaxial cable to Kuwait and Jordan;
submarine cable to Djibouti, Egypt and Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 5
Intelsat (3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Arabsat, and 1 Inmarsat
(Indian Ocean region) |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 43, FM 31, shortwave 2
(1998) |
| Radios: |
6.25 million
(1997) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
117
(1997) |
| Televisions: |
5.1 million
(1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.sa |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
42
(2001) |
| Internet
users: |
400,000 (2001) | Source: World Factbook |
