the telephone system has undergone remarkable changes in the 1990s; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied
domestic: cross-nation digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, insufficient, and low density
international: Russia is connected internationally by three undersea fiber-optic cables; digital switches in several cities offer more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations offer access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems