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TELEPHONE


Telephones - main lines in use: 178 million (1999)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 55.312 million (1997)

Telephone system:

''domestic:'' a large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries every form of telephone traffic; a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile telephone traffic throughout the country

''international:'' 24 ocean cable systems in use; satellite earth stations - 61 Intelsat (45 Atlantic Ocean and 16 Pacific Ocean), 5 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 4 Inmarsat (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions) (2000)

  • Note: The American telephone system was formerly operated by a single monopoly, AT&T , which was split up in 1984 into a long-distance telephone company and several local " Baby Bell s."

  • At present, landline telephone service continues to be divided between "local" phone monopolies and several competing "long-distance" companies. Most states have several competing cellular phone networks, which often include generous long-distance rates in their plans. As of 2005 , some of the Baby Bells are beginning to merge with long-distance phone companies. A small number of consumers are currently experimenting with Voice Over Internet Protocol phone service.

  • Most local service to homes is provided through old-fashioned copper wire, although many of the Baby Bells are beginning to upgrade the so-called "last mile" to fiber optic.



RADIO


Radio broadcast stations: AM: 4,757; FM commercial stations: 6,231; FM educational stations: 2,672; FM translators & boosters: 3,995; low-power FM stations: 675 (as of December 31, 2005, according to the Federal Communications Commission )


Radios: 575 million (1997)


TELEVISION


Television broadcast stations: 9,024 (of which 1,750 are full-power TV stations; 592 are class-A TV stations; 4,537 are TV translators; and 2,145 are other low-power TV stations) (as of December 31, 2005, according to the Federal Communications Commission ); in addition, there are about 12,000 cable TV systems.

  • Most local commercial television stations are owned-and-operated or affiliated with the large national broadcast networks such as ABC , CBS , Fox , NBC , UPN and The WB . There are also some television networks aimed at ethnic minorities, such as Spanish Language networks Univisión and Telemundo . Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS ), is the public broadcasting network, with over 300 non-profit affiliated stations across the United States. Besides the large broadcast networks (which are free for anyone with a TV and an antenna), there are also many networks available only with a subscription to cable or satellite television, like CNN .


Televisions: 219 million (1997)

''See also: Television In The United States , List Of United States Broadcast Television Networks , List Of United States Cable And Satellite Television Networks ''


INTERNET


Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 7,600 (1999 est.)

  • Because of aggressive lobbying and the United States' strong Libertarian traditions, the Internet service provider industry remains relatively unregulated in comparison to other communications industries.


Country Code (Top level domain): US

  • For various historical reasons, the .us domain was never widely used outside of a small number of government agencies and school districts. Most companies (including small ones who should have been under .us) signed up for Top Level Domain s like .com instead.

  • At present, NeuStar Inc. now has control over the .us registry and is trying to promote the domain as an option for American-oriented Web sites.


See also :