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3,317,500 (2002) Telephones - Mobile Cellular : 5.008 million (2002) ''note:'' In 2004, the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) monopolization was broken by authorizing Etihad Etisalat/Mobily to compete in mobile communication. Telephone system: modern system ''domestic:'' extensive microwave radio relay and coaxial and fiber-optic cable systems ''international:'' microwave radio relay to Bahrain , Jordan , Kuwait , Qatar , UAE , Yemen , and Sudan ; coaxial cable to Kuwait and Jordan ; submarine cable to Djibouti , Egypt and Bahrain ; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Arabsat , and 1 Inmarsat ( Indian Ocean region) Radio broadcast stations: AM 43, FM 31, shortwave 2 (1998) Radios: 6.25 million (1997) Television broadcast stations: 117 (1997) Televisions: 5.1 million (1997) Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 22 (2005) ''' BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS ADSL service in Saudi Arabia has become available since 2001. As part of its monopoly on all methods of communication in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Telecom Company is the only complete provider, though several ISPs are available, with the permission of STC. STC is the only provider for telephone lines in Saudi Arabia. For this reason customers have to pay two fees, one to STC for activation of the ADSL service across the telephone line, and a second to an ISP to provide Internet service across the ADSL line. STC has been highly criticized for their service in providing ADSL access as customers had to wait many months to receive ADSL service on their phone lines. In 2006, STC had invested in increasing the size of their ADSL infrastructure and since then the wait times had improved, but many customers are still on waiting lists. ADSL services in Saudi Arabia has been criticized for being slow, unreliable, and unreasonably expensive. As of January 2007, STC started providing 1024 kbit/s ADSL connections, but there are currently few ISPs that provide 1024 kbit/s Internet access. Still, Saudi Arabia is lagging behind its neighbors in terms of DSL access, as broadband costs are nearly double that of neighboring countries and the maximum Internet speed available is currently 4096 kbit/s. Available ADSL speeds with typical monthly prices:
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