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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
In mid-1994 the Lao telecommunications system was
rudimentary,
with a telephone system that serves primarily government
offices
and broadcast facilities in only a few large towns. In
1986 there
were approximately 8,000 telephones for the entire
country, or
fewer than 2 telephones per 1,000 people. There reportedly
was a
substantial expansion of telephone lines in Vientiane
beginning in
1989, but no updated figures were available.
One powerful amplitude modulation (AM) station is
located in
Vientiane; the other nine AM stations are low-powered
transmitters
scattered in other cities. Seven shortwave stations
broadcasting in
six tribal languages reach remote areas, including one
that
broadcasts in Cambodian, French, Thai, and Vietnamese to
neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. The capital also
has two
lower-power television transmitters and one frequency
modulation
(FM) station. The number of radios increased from 350,000
in 1980
to 520,000 in 1990.
The first domestic television service was established
in 1983,
and the second, in 1988, broadcasting from Savannakhét.
Southern
Laos receives transmissions from Thailand, and all of Laos
receives
satellite-relayed transmissions from a ground satellite
station
linked to Intersputnik from the former Soviet Union. There
were
about 31,000 television sets in 1990.
International communications improved greatly with the
installation in 1990 of a new satellite ground station. In
1991
agreements were concluded with China and France to relay
their
broadcasts to Laos by satellite.
Data as of July 1994
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