domestic: local service is provided by microwave radio
relay and coaxial cable, with open wire and obsolete
electromechanical and manual switchboard systems still in use in
rural areas; starting in the 1980s, a substantial amount of digital
switch gear has been introduced for local and long-distance service;
long-distance traffic is carried mostly by coaxial cable and
low-capacity microwave radio relay; since 1985 significant trunk
capacity has been added in the form of fiber-optic cable and a
domestic satellite system with 254 earth stations; mobile cellular
service is provided in four metropolitan cities
international:
satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat
(Indian Ocean region); nine gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai
(Bombay), New Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur,
Gaidhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 4 submarine cables - LOCOM
linking Chennai (Madras) to Penang; Indo-UAE-Gulf cable linking
Mumbai (Bombay) to Al Fujayrah, UAE; India-SEA-ME-WE-3, SEA-ME-WE-2
with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay); Fiber-Optic Link
Around the Globe (FLAG) with landing site at Mumbai (Bombay)
Radio broadcast stations:
562 (of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less than 1 kW of power) (1997)
Television:
63 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers:
3 (1999)
