essment: by opening the telecommunications
market to competition and foreign investment with the "Telecommunications
Liberalization Plan of 1998", Argentina encouraged the growth of modern
telecommunication technology; fiber-optic cable trunk lines are being
installed between all major cities; the major networks are entirely
digital and the availability of telephone service is being improved;
however, telephone density is presently minimal, and making telephone
service universally available will take some time domestic: microwave
radio relay, fiber-optic cable, and a domestic satellite system with 40
earth stations serve the trunk network; more than 110,000 pay telephones
are installed and mobile telephone use is rapidly expanding international:
Unisur submarine cables; two international gateways near Buenos Aires
(1999)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 260 (including 10 inactive stations),
FM NA (probably more than 1,000, mostly unlicensed), shortwave 6 (1998)

Radios: 24.3 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 7.95 million (1997)

Internet country code: .ar

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 33 (2000)

Internet users: 3.88 million (2001)

Transportation Argentina

Railways: total: 33,744 km (167 km electrified) broad gauge: 20,594 km
1.676-m gauge (141 km electrified) standard gauge: 2,739 km 1.435-m gauge
(26 km electrified) narrow gauge: 10,154 km 1.000-m gauge; 257 km 0.750-m
gauge (2000 est.)

Highways: total: 215,434 km paved: 63,553 km (including 734 km of
expressways) unpaved: 151,881 km (1998 est.)

Waterways: 10,950 km

Pipelines: crude oil 4,090 km; petroleum products 2,900 km; natural
gas 9,918 km

Ports and harbors: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia,
Concepcion del Uruguay, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Necochea, Rio Gallegos,
Rosario, Santa Fe, Ushuaia

Merchant marine: total: 24 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 147,505
GRT/222,500 DWT ships by type: cargo 9, petroleum tanker 10, railcar
carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger
1, includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of
convenience: United Arab Emirates 1, Uruguay 1 (2002 est.)

Airports: 1,369 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 144 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to
3,047 m: 26 1,524 to 2,437 m: 60 914 to 1,523 m: 45 under 914 m: 9 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: Military