Telephone
There are around 100,000 (2004) main line telephones in use, but as of 2007 734,800 mobile phones.
The World Bank reported in 2007 that only about 1.5% of the population had a telephone resulting in the emergence of ten fiercely competitive telephone companies. According to the CIA World Factbook, private telephone companies "offer service in most major cities" via wireless technology, charging "the lowest international rates on the continent",
Somalia has the cheapest cellular calling rates on the continent, with some companies charging less than a cent per minute. Competing phone companies have agreed on interconnection standards, which were brokered by the United Nations funded Somali Telecom Association. Installation time for a land-line is just three days, while in neighboring Kenya waiting lists are many years long.
Companies providing telecommunication services are:
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Read more about this topic: Communications In Somalia
Famous quotes containing the word telephone:
“The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart and democracy itself cannot function without the essential exchange of information. Creative leaks, a discreet lunch, interchange in the Lobby, the art of the unattributable telephone call, late at night.”
—Howard Brenton (b. 1942)
“A woman spent all Christmas Day in a telephone box without ringing anyone. If someone comes to phone, she leaves the box, then resumes her place afterwards. No one calls her either, but from a window in the street, someone watched her all day, no doubt since they had nothing better to do. The Christmas syndrome.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“Men will not give up their privilege of helplessness without a struggle. The average man has a carefully cultivated ignorance about household matters—from what to do with the crumbs to the grocer’s telephone number—a sort of cheerful inefficiency which protects him better than the reputation for having a violent temper.”
—Crystal Eastman (1881–1928)