the Globe); participant in MEDARABTEL; international links
total about 4,000

Kazakhstan:
general assessment: service is poor; equipment
antiquated

domestic: intercity by landline and microwave radio relay; mobile
cellular systems are available in most of Kazakhstan

international: international traffic with other former Soviet
republics and China carried by landline and microwave radio relay;
with other countries by satellite and by the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE)
fiber-optic cable; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat

Kenya:
general assessment: unreliable; little attempt to modernize
except for service to business

domestic: trunks are primarily microwave radio relay; business data
commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system

international: satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat

Kiribati:
general assessment: NA

domestic: NA

international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)

note: Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative
Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service

Korea, North:
general assessment: NA

domestic: NA

international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
and 1 Russian (Indian Ocean region); other international connections
through Moscow and Beijing

Korea, South:
general assessment: excellent domestic and
international services

domestic: NA

international: fiber-optic submarine cable to China; the
Russia-Korea-Japan submarine cable; satellite earth stations - 3
Intelsat (2 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat
(Pacific Ocean region)

Kuwait:
general assessment: the quality of service is excellent

domestic: new telephone exchanges provide a large capacity for new
subscribers; trunk traffic is carried by microwave radio relay,
coaxial cable, open wire, and fiber-optic cable; a cellular
telephone system operates throughout Kuwait, and the country is well
supplied with pay telephones

international: coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Saudi
Arabia; linked to Bahrain, Qatar, UAE via the Fiber-Optic Gulf (FOG)
cable; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 2
Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 2 Arabsat

Kyrgyzstan:
general assessment: poorly developed; about 100,000
unsatisfied applications for household telephones

domestic