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Number of Fixed Telephone Lines by Country

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This world map shows Number of Fixed Telephone Lines by Country.

Current worldwide number of fixed telephone lines: 1,189,498,900 (2010)
1,198,175,620 (2009)

Main (fixed) telephone lines refer to telephone lines connecting a customer's equipment (e.g., telephone set, facsimile machine) to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and which have a dedicated port on a telephone exchange. Note that for most countries, main lines also include public payphones. Many countries also include ISDN channels in main (fixed) lines (see below ISDN and ADSL).

Last updated: 13 years ago

Category: Information and Communication Technology

Country	2008	2009	2009 Notes	2009 Source
Afghanistan	101,124	129,328		Ministry of Communications.
Albania	343,591	363,000		Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications.
Algeria	3,069,140	2,576,165		Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télecommunications (ARPT).
American Samoa	10,400	10,400		ITU estimate.
Andorra	37,375	37,882		Servei de Telecomunicacions d'Andorra (STA).
Angola	114,296	303,179	Break in comparability. From this year, including copper line (171'562), DSL line (13'967), WiMax (43'146), CDMA (72'000) and VSAT (2'504) which are not included in previous years.	Instituto Angolano das Comunicações.
Anguilla	6,256	6,256		ITU estimate.
Antigua & Barbuda	38,000	37,350		Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Telecommunications, Science & Technology.
Argentina	9,742,833	9,768,135		Comisión Nacional de Comunicaciones
Armenia	626,000	630,000		ITU estimate.
Aruba	38,461	38,300		ITU estimate.
Australia	9,370,000	9,020,000		ACMA.
Austria	3,285,000	3,253,000	Incl. ISDN channels. Measured in ISDN B channels equivalents.	Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR-GmbH).
Azerbaijan	1,310,500	1,401,100	Number of ISDN channels are not included.	Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Bahamas	132,756	128,964		Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd. (BTC)
Bahrain	220,386	238,000		Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)
Bangladesh	1,344,456	1,522,900		ITU estimate.
Barbados	150,000	135,700		Ministry of Finance, Investment, Telecommunications & Energy
Belarus	3,718,094	3,969,290		Ministry of Communications and Informatization.
Belgium	4,734,517	4,635,989	Including ISDN and managed VoB.	IBPT
Belize	31,124	31,168		Belize Telemedia Limited.
Benin	115,289	127,149		ATRPT.
Bermuda	57,600	57,700		ITU estimate.
Bhutan	27,475	26,348		Bhutan Information, Communications and Media Authority, Ministry of Information and Communications.
Bolivia	690,000	810,181		Autoridad de Fiscalización y Control Social de Telecomunicaciones y Transportes
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1,031,355	998,644		Communications Regulatory Agency B & H.
Botswana	142,282	137,422		Country estimate.
Brazil	41,235,247	41,496,998		Anatel.
British Virgin Islands	18,900	20,100		ITU estimate.
Brunei Darussalam	80,786	80,549		AiTi.
Bulgaria	2,189,773	2,205,394	Data as of 31.12.2009. According to the revised definition the number of ISDN subscriptions is presented as voice channel equivalents. Public payphones are included.	Communications Regulation Commission
Burkina Faso	148,157	152,461		Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunications Électroniques (ARCE)
Burundi	30,411	31,500		Agence de Régulation et de Contrôle des Télécommunications.
Cambodia	43,100	54,200		ITU estimate.
Cameroon	255,306	435,413		Agence de Régulation des Statistiques
Canada	18,250,000	17,624,965		Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission
Cape Verde	71,860	71,874		ANAC - Agência Nacional das Comunicações
Cayman Islands	35,766	36,151		Information and Communications Technology Authority
Central African Rep.	12,000	12,000		ITU estimate.
Chad	45,000	58,267		Office Tchadien de Régulation des Télécommunications.
Chile	3,529,645	3,580,808		Subtel
China	340,359,000	313,732,000		Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
Colombia	7,928,944	7,473,867	Source: www.siust.gov.co.	Ministerio de Tecnologías de Información y las Comunicaciones
Comoros	28,809	30,787	Including fixed wireless (CDMA).	Comores Telecom.
Congo	22,200	24,300		ITU estimate.
Congo (Dem. Rep.)	37,320	42,320		A.R.P.T.C.
Cook Islands	6,694	6,871		Telecom Cook Islands Ltd.
Costa Rica	1,437,733	1,499,601		ICE-Telecomunicaciones
Côte d'Ivoire	356,502	282,070		Agence des Télécommunications de Côte d'Ivoire (ATCI).
Croatia	1,878,080	1,859,190		Croatian Post and Electronic Communications Agency (HAKOM).
Cuba	1,088,089	1,119,786		Ministerio de la Informática y las Comunicaciones
Cyprus	413,323	414,512		Office of the Commissioner for Electronic Communications and Postal Regulation.
Czech Republic	2,264,249	2,113,283	VoIP subcribers not included.	Czech Telecommunication Office
D.P.R. Korea	1,180,000	1,180,000		ITU estimate.
Denmark	2,490,938	2,062,000	Including ISDN channels.	National IT and Telecom Agency.
Djibouti	14,910	16,842		Ministère de la Communication et de la Culture, chargé des Postes et des Télécommunications.
Dominica	17,500	17,500		ITU estimate. 17'450 17'450 ITU estimate.
Dominican Rep.	985,711	965,423		INDOTEL
Ecuador	1,904,177	2,004,228		SENATEL.
Egypt	11,852,539	10,312,559		Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
El Salvador	1,077,179	1,099,128		Superintendencia General de Electricidad y Telecomunicaciones
Equatorial Guinea	10,000	10,000		ITU estimate.
Eritrea	40,415	48,473		Eritrea Telecommunication Services Corporation.
Estonia	498,129	492,759		Estonian Competition Authority.
Ethiopia	897,287	915,058	Excl. Public Payphones and ISDN channels	Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency.
Falkland (Malvinas) Is.	1,996	1,975		Cable & Wireless South Atlantic Plc
Faroe Islands	21,822	20,924		Postal and Telecom Surveillance Authority.
Fiji	129,100	136,782		ITU estimate.
Finland	1,650,000	1,430,000		Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority.
France	35,100,000	35,500,000		Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes (ARCEP).
French Polynesia	54,553	54,320		Service des Postes et Télécommunications.
Gabon	26,500	26,500		ITU estimate.
Gambia	48,868	49,000		ITU estimate.
Georgia	618,028	620,000		ITU estimate.
Germany	51,100,000	48,700,000	Telephone channels including ISDN and own consumption, excluding public payphones. Figure is based on NRA estimates.	Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA, formerly Regulierungsbehörde für Telekommunikation und Post).
Ghana	143,900	267,389		National Communications Authority (NCA).
Gibraltar	24,000	24,000		Gibtelecom.
Greece	5,253,695	5,248,056		Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission
Greenland	22,818	22,040		TELE Greenland
Grenada	28,579	28,600		ITU estimate.
Guam	65,500	65,500		ITU estimate.
Guatemala	1,448,891	1,413,234		Superintedencia de Telecomunicaciones
Guernsey				ITU estimate.
Guinea	21,000	22,000		ITU estimate.
Guinea-Bissau	4,647	4,844		Instituto das Comunicações da Guiné-Bissau
Guyana	133,409	139,523		National Frequency Management Unit
Haiti	108,000	108,300		ITU estimate.
Honduras	825,769	716,335		CONATEL
Hong Kong, China	4,183,017	4,277,297		Office of the Telecommunications Authority
Hungary	3,093,996	3,068,685		National Communications Authority.
Iceland	193,512	185,213		Post and Telecom Administration.
India	37,900,000	37,060,000	December.	TRAI.
Indonesia	30,378,071	33,957,892		Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Iran (I.R.)	24,800,000	25,804,100		ITU estimate.
Iraq	1,082,300	1,108,396		Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company
Ireland	2,201,995	2,079,468	Incl. PSTN lines, ISDN paths, FWA subscriptions, public payphones and LLU lines. Data refers to December.	Commission for Communications Regulation.
Israel	3,224,000	3,250,000		ITU estimate.
Italy	22,039,000	21,699,000		Ministry of Economic Development
Jamaica	316,591	302,451		Office of Utilities Regulation
Japan	47,321,000	43,339,000	December.	Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications(MIC)
Jersey	74,000	73,900		ITU estimate.
Jordan	518,990	501,238		Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.
Kazakhstan	3,458,440	3,856,500		Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Communications and Information
Kenya	646,356	664,099		Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).
Kiribati	4,000	4,000		ITU estimate.
Korea (Rep.)	23,390,263	25,949,444		Korea Communications Commission, Rep of Korea
Kuwait	541,000	553,500		ITU estimate.
Kyrgyzstan	494,503	498,328		National Communications Agency.
Lao P.D.R.	127,799	100,228		National Authority of Post and Telecommunication.
Latvia	644,000	644,000		ITU estimate.
Lebanon	750,000	803,740		Ministère des Télécommunications
Lesotho	41,190	40,000		ITU estimate.
Liberia	2,000	2,000		ITU estimate.
Libya	920,416	1,063,265		General Telecom Authority.
Liechtenstein	19,600	19,600		ITU estimate.
Lithuania	784,935	747,412		Communications Regulatory Authority.
Luxembourg	260,600	263,600		Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation.
Macao, China	175,920	170,486	Excl. ISDN channels, fixed wireless subscriptions and public payphones.	Bureau of Telecommunications Regulation
Madagascar	164,851	186,150		Office Malagasy d'Etudes et Régulations des télécommunications (OMERT)
Malawi	175,000	175,000
Malaysia	4,292,000	4,312,000		Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Malaysia
Maldives	46,925	49,025		Telecommunications Authority of Maldives (TAM).
Mali	81,076	84,796		Comité de Régulation des Télécommnications CRT
Malta	241,122	244,916		Malta Communications Authority
Marshall Islands	4,400	4,400		ITU estimate.
Mauritania	76,354	74,464		Autorité de Régulation
Mauritius	363,536	375,160		Information Communication Technologies Authority
Mayotte	10,000	10,000		ITU estimate.
Mexico	20,491,385	19,333,117		Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones
Micronesia	8,700	8,700		ITU estimate.
Moldova	1,114,564	1,138,729		National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) .
Monaco	35,000	35,400		ITU estimate.
Mongolia	200,494	188,875	Incl. WLL	Communications Regulatory Commission.
Montenegro	174,046	171,749		WiMAX.
Montserrat	2,800	2,700		ITU estimate.
Morocco	2,991,158	3,516,281	Includes fixed wireless.	Agence nationale de réglementation des télécommunications.
Mozambique	78,324	82,447		INCM.
Myanmar	504,445	552,311		Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs
Namibia	140,000	142,100		ITU estimate.
Nauru	1,800	1,900		ITU estimate.
Nepal	805,061	812,615	March 2010.	Nepal Telecommunications Authority
Neth. Antilles	88,000	89,000		ITU estimate.
Netherlands	7,317,200	7,320,000	July.	Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority (OPTA).
New Caledonia	63,006	67,426		Office des Postes et Télécommunications de Nouvelle-Calédonie
New Zealand	1,750,000	1,870,000		Ministry of Economic Development.
Nicaragua	252,000	255,000		ITU estimate.
Niger	64,738	65,000		ITU estimate.
Nigeria	1,307,625	1,482,000	Refers to active Fixed Wired/Wireless lines.	Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Niue	1,000	1,100		ITU estimate.
Northern Marianas	24,700	25,100		ITU estimate.
Norway	1,895,917	1,783,426		Norwegian Post- and telecommunications Authority
Oman	304,747	299,826		Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
Pakistan	4,416,417	3,523,242		PAKISTAN TELECOMMUNICATION AUTHORITY
Palau	7,352	7,059		Palau National Communications Corporation
Palestinian Authority	348,000	348,000		ITU estimate.
Panama	523,999	537,099		Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos.
Papua New Guinea	60,000	60,000		ITU estimate.
Paraguay	370,381	387,318		Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones.
Peru	2,878,205	2,965,297		Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones.
Philippines	4,076,140	6,783,372		National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
Poland	9,725,452	9,587,054		Office of Electronic Communications
Portugal	4,110,493	4,254,942		ANACOM
Puerto Rico	949,377	905,735		Instituto de Estadísticas de Puerto Rico
Qatar	263,363	285,270		ictQATAR
Romania	5,209,000	5,323,000		ANCOM
Russia	45,539,288	45,379,601		Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation
Rwanda	16,770	33,451		Rwanda Information Technology Authority.
S. Tomé & Principe	7,700	7,800		ITU estimate.
Samoa	28,800	31,900		ITU estimate.
San Marino	21,300	21,500		ITU estimate.
Saudi Arabia	4,100,000	4,171,000		CITC Market Studies Department.
Senegal	237,752	278,788		Agence de Régulation des Télécommunications.
Serbia	3,084,872	3,105,728		Republic Telecommunication Agency RATEL.
Seychelles	22,322	26,078	Refers to data collected at the end of Jan 2010. Incl fixed VoIP lines.	MInistry of National Development
Sierra Leone	31,500	32,800		ITU estimate.
Singapore	1,876,000	1,925,600		Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
Slovak Republic	1,288,645	1,219,645		Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications SR
Slovenia	1,009,767	1,034,169		Post and Electronic Communications Agency.
Solomon Islands	8,000	8,200		ITU estimate.
Somalia	100,000	100,000		ITU estimate.
South Africa	4,425,000	4,319,800		ITU estimate.
Spain	20,576,070	20,333,818		Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones
Sri Lanka	3,446,411	3,435,958		Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.
St. Helena	2,288	2,339		Cable & Wireless South Atlantic Ltd.
St. Kitts and Nevis	20,400	20,500		ITU estimate.
St. Lucia	40,940	41,000		ITU estimate.
St. Vincent and the G.	22,777	23,019		National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.
Sudan	366,200	370,423		National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC).
Suriname	83,000	83,747		Telecommunications Authority Suriname.
Swaziland	44,000	44,000		Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (STPC).
Sweden	5,345,732	5,151,275	Including PSTN, ISDN and IP channels.	Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS).
Switzerland	4,827,882	4,673,208	Estimate. Including ISDN access channels.	OFCOM
Syria	3,633,443	3,871,114		Syrian Telecommunications Establishment (STE).
Taiwan, Province of China	14,368,489	14,596,432		National Communications Commission (NCC).
Tajikistan	286,940	290,000		ITU estimate.
Tanzania	123,809	172,922		Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority.
TFYR Macedonia	457,122	437,301	Does not include internal lines and WLR of incumbent.	Agency for Electronic Communications
Thailand	7,394,349	7,204,936		Ministry of Information and Communication Technology
Timor-Leste	2,400	2,400		ITU estimate.
Togo	140,919	178,713		Autorité de réglementation des secteurs de postes et de télécommunications (ART&P).
Tokelau	300	300		ITU estimate.
Tonga	25,536	31,000		ITU estimate.
Trinidad & Tobago	314,792	303,227		Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia	1,239,074	1,278,548		Ministère des Technologies de la Communication.
Turkey	17,502,205	16,534,356		Information and Communication Technologies Authority.
Turkmenistan	477,670	478,000		ITU estimate.
Turks & Caicos Is.	3,700	3,700		ITU estimate.
Tuvalu	1,500	1,700		ITU estimate.
Uganda	168,481	233,533		Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).
Ukraine	13,176,871	13,026,293		State Administration of Communications.
United Arab Emirates	1,508,289	1,561,196		Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
United Kingdom	33,235,329	32,116,914		Ofcom
United States	140,975,000	141,000,000	The December 2009 data includes only switched access lines. Because data for earlier years includes a largely unknown number of interconnected VoIP subscriptions, the data are not directly comparable over time.	ITU estimate.
Uruguay	959,286	953,400		ITU estimate.
Uzbekistan	1,849,563	1,856,592		Communications and Information Agency of Uzbekistan.
Vanuatu	10,400	7,219		Telecom Regulator.
Venezuela	6,417,775	6,866,626	Preliminary.	Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL).
Viet Nam	14,767,629	17,427,365		Ministry of Information and Communications.
Wallis and Futuna	2,700	2,977		Service des Postes et Telecommunications (SPT).
Yemen	961,000	997,000		Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology
Zambia	90,600	90,341		Information & Communication Authority.
Zimbabwe	348,000	385,116		Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ).