1. Introduction

Mongolia is a land-locked country situated between the Russian Federation in the north and the People's Republic of China in the east, west and south. Mongolia's terrain includes an extensive plateau with an average height of 1,580 metres above sea level, with the Gobi desert in the south. The country has 1'566'500 square km of territory and 2'422'000 inhabitants (1997), resulting in a population density of about 1.50 persons per square km.

The overall telecommunications network of the country consists of 3'200 km analogue and about 800 km digital microwave lines, connecting Ulaanbaatar and aimag (province) centres. There are 21 aimags and around 350 somons (villages) in Mongoli. There are 30'000 km of open wire lines connecting aimag centres with somons and other populated areas , as well as 332 switching facilities. The telephone density per 100 population is 4.5 in the whole country, compared to 10.5 in the capital, Ulaanbaatar (1998). This teledensity level is average for developing countries with a similar level of per capita GDP.

Mongolia has some 128'287 exchange lines from which 96'004 lines are in service. The number of exchange lines has increased by 45 per cent since 1990 but the number in service has increased at a slower rate due to a lack of outside plant.