16 years of age; universal
Curacao
18 years of age; universal
Cyprus
18 years of age; universal
Czech Republic
18 years of age; universal
Denmark
18 years of age; universal
Djibouti
18 years of age; universal
Dominica
18 years of age; universal
Dominican Republic
18 years of age, universal and compulsory;
married persons regardless of age; note - members of the armed
forces and national police cannot vote
Ecuador
16 years of age; universal, compulsory for persons ages
18-65, optional for other eligible voters
Egypt
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
El Salvador
18 years of age; universal
Equatorial Guinea
18 years of age; universal
Eritrea
18 years of age; universal
Estonia
18 years of age; universal for all Estonian citizens
Ethiopia
18 years of age; universal
European Union
18 years of age; universal
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
18 years of age; universal
Faroe Islands
18 years of age; universal
Fiji
21 years of age; universal
Finland
18 years of age; universal
France
18 years of age; universal
French Polynesia
18 years of age; universal
Gabon
21 years of age; universal
Gambia, The
18 years of age; universal
Georgia
18 years of age; universal
Germany
18 years of age; universal
Ghana
18 years of age; universal
Gibraltar
18 years of age; universal; and British citizens who have
been residents six months or more
Greece
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Greenland
18 years of age; universal
Grenada
18 years of age; universal
Guam
18 years of age; universal; US citizens but do not vote in US
presidential elections
Guatemala
18 years of age; universal; note - active duty members of
the armed forces may not vote and are restricted to their barracks
on election day
Guernsey
16 years of age; universal
Guinea
18 years of age; universal
Guinea-Bissau
18 years of age; universal
Guyana
18 years of age; universal
Haiti
18 years of age; universal
Holy See (Vatican City)
limited to cardinals less than 80 years old
Honduras
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Hong Kong
direct election - 18 years of age for half the legislature
and a majority of seats in 18 district councils; universal for
permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the
past seven years
indirect election - limited to about 220,000 members of functional
constituencies for the other half of the legislature and an
800-member election committee for the chief executive drawn from
broad sectoral groupings, central government bodies, and municipal
organizations
Hungary
18 years of age; universal
Iceland
18 years of age; universal
India
18 years of age; universal
Indonesia
17 years of age; universal and married persons regardless
of age
Iran
18 years of age; universal
Iraq
18 years of age; universal
Ireland
18 years of age; universal
Isle of Man
16 years of age; universal
Israel
18 years of age; universal
Italy
18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections,
where minimum age is 25)
Jamaica
18 years of age; universal
Japan
20 years of age; universal
Jersey
16 years of age; universal
Jordan
18 years of age; universal
Kazakhstan
18 years of age; universal
Kenya
18 years of age; universal
Kiribati
18 years of age; universal
Korea, North
17 years of age; universal
Korea, South
19 years of age; universal
Kosovo
18 years of age; universal
Kuwait
21 years of age; universal (adult); note - males in the
military or police are not allowed to vote; adult females were
allowed to vote as of 16 May 2005; all voters must have been
citizens for 20 years
Kyrgyzstan
18 years of age; universal
Laos
18 years of age; universal
Latvia
18 years of age; universal for Latvian citizens
Lebanon
21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for
women at age 21 with elementary education; excludes military
personnel
Lesotho
18 years of age; universal
Liberia
18 years of age; universal
Libya
18 years of age; universal and technically compulsory
Liechtenstein
18 years of age; universal
Lithuania
18 years of age; universal
Luxembourg
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Macau
direct election 18 years of age for some non-executive
positions, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the
past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations
registered as "corporate voters" (257 are currently registered) and
a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings,
municipal organizations, and central government bodies
Macedonia
18 years of age; universal
Madagascar
18 years of age; universal
Malawi
18 years of age; universal
Malaysia
21 years of age; universal
Maldives
18 years of age; universal
Mali
18 years of age; universal
Malta
18 years of age; universal
Marshall Islands
18 years of age; universal
Mauritania
18 years of age; universal
Mauritius
18 years of age; universal
Mayotte
18 years of age; universal
Mexico
18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced)
Micronesia, Federated States of
18 years of age; universal
Moldova
18 years of age; universal
Monaco
18 years of age; universal
Mongolia
18 years of age; universal
Montenegro
18 years of age; universal
Montserrat
18 years of age; universal
Morocco
18 years of age; universal
Mozambique
18 years of age; universal
Namibia
18 years of age; universal
Nauru
20 years of age; universal and compulsory
Nepal
18 years of age; universal
Netherlands
18 years of age; universal
New Caledonia
18 years of age; universal
New Zealand
18 years of age; universal
Nicaragua
16 years of age; universal
Niger
18 years of age; universal
Nigeria
18 years of age; universal
Niue
18 years of age; universal
Norfolk Island
18 years of age; universal
Northern Mariana Islands
18 years of age; universal; indigenous
inhabitants are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential
elections
Norway
18 years of age; universal
Oman
21 years of age; universal; note - members of the military and
security forces are not allowed to vote
Pakistan
18 years of age; universal; joint electorates and reserved
parliamentary seats for women and non-Muslims
Palau
18 years of age; universal
Panama
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Papua New Guinea
18 years of age; universal
Paraguay
18 years of age; universal and compulsory up to age 75
Peru
18 years of age; universal and compulsory until the age of 70
Philippines
18 years of age; universal
Pitcairn Islands
18 years of age; universal with three years
residency
Poland
18 years of age; universal
Portugal
18 years of age; universal
Puerto Rico
18 years of age; universal; island residents are US
citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections
Qatar
18 years of age; universal
Romania
18 years of age; universal
Russia
18 years of age; universal
Rwanda
18 years of age; universal
Saint Barthelemy
18 years of age, universal
Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha
NA
Saint Kitts and Nevis
18 years of age; universal
Saint Lucia
18 years of age; universal
Saint Martin
18 years of age, universal
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
18 years of age; universal
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
18 years of age; universal
Samoa
21 years of age; universal
San Marino
18 years of age; universal
Sao Tome and Principe
18 years of age; universal
Saudi Arabia
21 years of age; male
Senegal
18 years of age; universal
Serbia
18 years of age; universal
Seychelles
17 years of age; universal
Sierra Leone
18 years of age; universal
Singapore
21 years of age; universal and compulsory
Sint Maarten
18 years of age; universal
Slovakia
18 years of age; universal
Slovenia
18 years of age, 16 if employed; universal
Solomon Islands
21 years of age; universal
Somalia
18 years of age; universal
South Africa
18 years of age; universal
Spain
18 years of age; universal
Sri Lanka
18 years of age; universal
Sudan
17 years of age; universal
Suriname
18 years of age; universal
Swaziland
18 years of age
Sweden
18 years of age; universal
Switzerland
18 years of age; universal
Syria
18 years of age; universal
Taiwan
20 years of age; universal
Tajikistan
18 years of age; universal
Tanzania
18 years of age; universal
Thailand
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Timor-Leste
17 years of age; universal
Togo
18 years of age; universal (adult)
Tokelau
21 years of age; universal
Tonga
21 years of age; universal
Trinidad and Tobago
18 years of age; universal
Tunisia
18 years of age; universal except for active government
security forces (including the police and the military), people with
mental disabilities, people who have served more than three months
in prison (criminal cases only), and people given a suspended
sentence of more than six months
Turkey
18 years of age; universal
Turkmenistan
18 years of age; universal
Turks and Caicos Islands
18 years of age; universal
Tuvalu
18 years of age; universal
Uganda
18 years of age; universal
Ukraine
18 years of age; universal
United Arab Emirates
none
United Kingdom
18 years of age; universal
United States
18 years of age; universal
Uruguay
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Uzbekistan
18 years of age; universal
Vanuatu
18 years of age; universal
Venezuela
18 years of age; universal
Vietnam
18 years of age; universal
Virgin Islands
18 years of age; universal; island residents are US
citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections
Wallis and Futuna
18 years of age; universal
Western Sahara
none; (residents of Moroccan-controlled Western
Sahara participate in Moroccan elections)
Yemen
18 years of age; universal
Zambia
18 years of age; universal
Zimbabwe
18 years of age; universal
======================================================================
@2124
Field Listing :: Telephone system
This entry includes a brief general assessment of the system with
details on the domestic and international components. The following
terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry:
Arabsat - Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia).
Autodin - Automatic Digital Network (US Department of Defense).
CB - citizen's band mobile radio communications.
Cellular telephone system - the telephones in this system are radio
transceivers, with each instrument having its own private radio
frequency and sufficient radiated power to reach the booster station
in its area (cell), from which the telephone signal is fed to a
telephone exchange.
Central American Microwave System - a trunk microwave radio relay
system that links the countries of Central America and Mexico with
each other.
Coaxial cable - a multichannel communication cable consisting of a
central conducting wire, surrounded by and insulated from a
cylindrical conducting shell; a large number of telephone channels
can be made available within the insulated space by the use of a
large number of carrier frequencies.
Comsat - Communications Satellite Corporation (US).
DSN - Defense Switched Network (formerly Automatic Voice Network or
Autovon); basic general-purpose, switched voice network of the
Defense Communications System (US Department of Defense).
Eutelsat - European Telecommunications Satellite Organization
(Paris).
Fiber-optic cable - a multichannel communications cable using a
thread of optical glass fibers as a transmission medium in which the
signal (voice, video, etc.) is in the form of a coded pulse of light.
GSM - a global system for mobile (cellular) communications devised
by the Groupe Special Mobile of the pan-European standardization
organization, Conference Europeanne des Posts et Telecommunications
(CEPT) in 1982.
HF - high frequency; any radio frequency in the 3,000- to 30,000-kHz
range.
Inmarsat - International Maritime Satellite Organization (London);
provider of global mobile satellite communications for commercial,
distress, and safety applications at sea, in the air, and on land.
Intelsat - International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
(Washington, DC).
Intersputnik - International Organization of Space Communications
(Moscow); first established in the former Soviet Union and the East
European countries, it is now marketing its services worldwide with
earth stations in North America, Africa, and East Asia.
Landline - communication wire or cable of any sort that is installed
on poles or buried in the ground.
Marecs - Maritime European Communications Satellite used in the
Inmarsat system on lease from the European Space Agency.
Marisat - satellites of the Comsat Corporation that participate in
the Inmarsat system.
Medarabtel - the Middle East Telecommunications Project of the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) providing a modern
telecommunications network, primarily by microwave radio relay,
linking Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi
Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen; it was initially
started in Morocco in 1970 by the Arab Telecommunications Union
(ATU) and was known at that time as the Middle East Mediterranean
Telecommunications Network.
Microwave radio relay - transmission of long distance telephone
calls and television programs by highly directional radio microwaves
that are received and sent on from one booster station to another on
an optical path.
NMT - Nordic Mobile Telephone; an analog cellular telephone system
that was developed jointly by the national telecommunications
authorities of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Norway, and Sweden).
Orbita - a Russian television service; also the trade name of a
packet-switched digital telephone network.
Radiotelephone communications - the two-way transmission and
reception of sounds by broadcast radio on authorized frequencies
using telephone handsets.
PanAmSat - PanAmSat Corporation (Greenwich, CT).
SAFE - South African Far East Cable
Satellite communication system - a communication system consisting
of two or more earth stations and at least one satellite that
provide long distance transmission of voice, data, and television;
the system usually serves as a trunk connection between telephone
exchanges; if the earth stations are in the same country, it is a
domestic system.
Satellite earth station - a communications facility with a microwave
radio transmitting and receiving antenna and required receiving and
transmitting equipment for communicating with satellites.
Satellite link - a radio connection between a satellite and an earth
station permitting communication between them, either one-way (down
link from satellite to earth station - television receive-only
transmission) or two-way (telephone channels).
SHF - super high frequency; any radio frequency in the 3,000- to
30,000-MHz range.
Shortwave - radio frequencies (from 1.605 to 30 MHz) that fall above
the commercial broadcast band and are used for communication over
long distances.
Solidaridad - geosynchronous satellites in Mexico's system of
international telecommunications in the Western Hemisphere.
Statsionar - Russia's geostationary system for satellite
telecommunications.
Submarine cable - a cable designed for service under water.
TAT - Trans-Atlantic Telephone; any of a number of high-capacity
submarine coaxial telephone cables linking Europe with North America.
Telefax - facsimile service between subscriber stations via the
public switched telephone network or the international Datel network.
Telegraph - a telecommunications system designed for unmodulated
electric impulse transmission.
Telex - a communication service involving teletypewriters connected
by wire through automatic exchanges.
Tropospheric scatter - a form of microwave radio transmission in
which the troposphere is used to scatter and reflect a fraction of
the incident radio waves back to earth; powerful, highly directional
antennas are used to transmit and receive the microwave signals;
reliable over-the-horizon communications are realized for distances
up to 600 miles in a single hop; additional hops can extend the
range of this system for very long distances.
Trunk network - a network of switching centers, connected by
multichannel trunk lines.
UHF - ultra high frequency; any radio frequency in the 300- to
3,000-MHz range.
VHF - very high frequency; any radio frequency in the 30- to 300-MHz
range.
Country
Telephone system
Afghanistan
general assessment: limited fixed-line telephone
service; an increasing number of Afghans utilize mobile-cellular
phone networks
domestic: aided by the presence of multiple providers,
mobile-cellular telephone service continues to improve rapidly
international: country code - 93; multiple VSAT's provide
international and domestic voice and data connectivity (2009)
Albania
general assessment: despite new investment in fixed lines
teledensity remains low with roughly 10 fixed lines per 100 people;
mobile-cellular telephone use is widespread and generally effective;
combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity is now exceeds
100 per 100 persons
domestic: offsetting the shortage of fixed line capacity,
mobile-cellular phone service has been available since 1996; by
2003, two companies were providing mobile services at a greater
teledensity than some of Albania's neighbors; Internet broadband
services initiated in 2005; Internet cafes are popular in Tirana and
have started to spread outside the capital
international: country code - 355; submarine cable provides
connectivity to Italy, Croatia, and Greece; the Trans-Balkan Line, a
combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system, provides
additional connectivity to Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Turkey;
international traffic carried by fiber-optic cable and, when
necessary, by microwave radio relay from the Tirana exchange to
Italy and Greece (2009)
Algeria
general assessment: privatization of Algeria's
telecommunications sector began in 2000; three mobile cellular
licenses have been issued and, in 2005, a consortium led by Egypt's
Orascom Telecom won a 15-year license to build and operate a
fixed-line network in Algeria; the license will allow Orascom to
develop high-speed data and other specialized services and
contribute to meeting the large unfulfilled demand for basic
residential telephony; Internet broadband services began in 2003
domestic: a limited network of fixed lines with a teledensity of
less than 10 telephones per 100 persons is offset by the rapid
increase in mobile-cellular subscribership; in 2009, combined
fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity was roughly 100
telephones per 100 persons
international: country code - 213; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4
fiber-optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe,
the Middle East, and Asia; microwave radio relay to Italy, France,
Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; coaxial cable to Morocco and Tunisia;
participant in Medarabtel; satellite earth stations - 51 (Intelsat,
Intersputnik, and Arabsat) (2009)
American Samoa
general assessment: NA
domestic: good telex, telegraph, facsimile, and cellular telephone
services; domestic satellite system with 1 Comsat earth station
international: country code - 1-684; satellite earth station - 1
(Intelsat-Pacific Ocean)
Andorra
general assessment: NA
domestic: modern system with microwave radio relay connections
between exchanges
international: country code - 376; landline circuits to France and
Spain
Angola
general assessment: limited system; state-owned telecom had
monopoly for fixed-lines until 2005; demand outstripped capacity,
prices were high, and services poor; Telecom Namibia, through an
Angolan company, became the first private licensed operator in
Angola's fixed-line telephone network; by 2010, the number of
fixed-line providers had expanded to 5; Angola Telecom established
mobile-cellular service in Luanda in 1993 and the network has been
extended to larger towns; a privately-owned, mobile-cellular service
provider began operations in 2001
domestic: only about two fixed-lines per 100 persons; combined
fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 65 telephones per
100 persons in 2009
international: country code - 244; landing point for the SAT-3/WASC
fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and
Asia; satellite earth stations - 29 (2009)
Anguilla
general assessment: NA
domestic: modern internal telephone system
international: country code - 1-264; landing point for the East
Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) submarine cable with links to 13 other
islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin
Islands to Trinidad; microwave radio relay to island of Saint
Martin/Sint Maarten (2007)
Antarctica
general assessment: local systems at some research
stations
domestic: commercial cellular networks operating in a small number
of locations
international: country code - none allocated; via satellite
(including mobile Inmarsat and Iridium systems) to and from all
research stations, ships, aircraft, and most field parties (2007)
Antigua and Barbuda
general assessment: NA
domestic: good automatic telephone system
international: country code - 1-268; landing points for the East
Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) and the Global Caribbean Network (GCN)
submarine cable systems with links to other islands in the eastern
Caribbean extending from the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad;
satellite earth stations - 2; tropospheric scatter to Saba
(Netherlands) and Guadeloupe (France) (2007)
Argentina
general assessment: the "Telecommunications Liberalization
Plan of 1998" opened the telecommunications market to competition
and foreign investment encouraging the growth of modern
telecommunications technology; fiber-optic cable trunk lines are
being installed between all major cities; major networks are
entirely digital and the availability of telephone service is
improving
domestic: microwave radio relay, fiber-optic cable, and a domestic
satellite system with 40 earth stations serve the trunk network;
fixed-line teledensity is increasing gradually and mobile-cellular
subscribership is increasing rapidly; broadband Internet services
are gaining ground
international: country code - 54; landing point for the Atlantis-2,
UNISUR, South America-1, and South American Crossing/Latin American
Nautilus submarine cable systems that provide links to Europe,
Africa, South and Central America, and US; satellite earth stations
- 112; 2 international gateways near Buenos Aires (2009)
Armenia
general assessment: telecommunications investments have made
major inroads in modernizing and upgrading the outdated
telecommunications network inherited from the Soviet era; now 100%
privately owned and undergoing modernization and expansion;
mobile-cellular services monopoly terminated in late 2004 and a
second provider began operations in mid-2005
domestic: reliable modern fixed-line and mobile-cellular services
are available across Yerevan in major cities and towns; significant
but ever-shrinking gaps remain in mobile-cellular coverage in rural
areas
international: country code - 374; Yerevan is connected to the
Trans-Asia-Europe fiber-optic cable through Iran; additional
international service is available by microwave radio relay and
landline connections to the other countries of the Commonwealth of
Independent States, through the Moscow international switch, and by
satellite to the rest of the world; satellite earth stations - 3
(2008)
Aruba
general assessment: modern fully automatic telecommunications
system
domestic: increased competition through privatization; 3
mobile-cellular service providers are now licensed
international: country code - 297; landing site for the PAN-AM
submarine telecommunications cable system that extends from the US
Virgin Islands through Aruba to Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and the
west coast of South America; extensive interisland microwave radio
relay links (2007)