ave is still serviceable; satellite earth stations - 2
(2007)

Bahamas, The
general assessment: modern facilities
domestic: totally automatic system; highly developed; the Bahamas
Domestic Submarine Network links 14 of the islands and is designed
to satisfy increasing demand for voice and broadband internet
services
international: country code - 1-242; landing point for the Americas
Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic submarine cable
that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the
Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth stations - 2 (2007)

Bahrain
general assessment: modern system
domestic: modern fiber-optic integrated services; digital network
with rapidly growing use of mobile-cellular telephones
international: country code - 973; landing point for the Fiber-Optic
Link Around the Globe (FLAG) submarine cable network that provides
links to Asia, Middle East, Europe, and US; tropospheric scatter to
Qatar and UAE; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; satellite
earth station - 1 (2007)

Bangladesh
general assessment: inadequate for a modern country;
fixed-line telephone density remains less than 1 per 100 persons;
mobile-cellular telephone subscribership has been increasing rapidly
and is approaching 25 per 100 persons
domestic: modernizing; introducing digital systems; trunk systems
include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and some
fiber-optic cable in cities
international: country code - 880; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4
fiber-optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe,
the Middle East, and Asia; satellite earth stations - 6;
international radiotelephone communications and landline service to
neighboring countries (2007)

Barbados
general assessment: fixed-line teledensity of roughly 50
per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of about 85 per
100 persons
domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system
international: country code - 1-246; landing point for the East
Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) submarine cable with links to 13 other
islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin
Islands to Trinidad; satellite earth stations - 1 (Intelsat
-Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia
(2007)

Belarus
general assessment: Belarus lags behind its neighbors in
upgrading telecommunications infrastructure; state-owned B