Wiring the World / THE NEW AGE OF GLOBAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS : TELECOM TRIVIA:

Phone use: The greatest number of calls made in any country is in the United States, with 436.22 billion per year. Monaco has the most telephones per person with 810 phones per 1,000 people. Bermuda has the highest number of international telephone calls per capital. *

The largest phone: The largest working telephone was exhibited at a festival in 1988. It was 8’1” high and 19’11” long and weighed 3.8 tons. The handset had to be lifted by a crane to be used. *

The busiest routes: The busiest international telephone route is between the United States and Canada. In 1991 there were about 3.3 billion minutes of two-way traffic between the two countries. *

Mobile phones: Scandinavian countries lead the world in per capita mobile phone use. Sweden has the highest number of mobile communication subscribers per 100 inhabitants with 7.56. Finland, Norway and Iceland come in second, third and fourth, respectively. *

Largest switchboard: The world’s biggest switchboard is the one in the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., with 34,500 lines handling more than 1 million calls per day. *

Longest cable: The world’s longest submarine telephone cable runs for 9,415 miles from Port Alberni, Canada to Auckland, New Zealand and Sydney, Australia via Fiji and Norfolk Island. It cost $397 million and was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II in November, 1984. *

Fax use: Japan has the highest penetration of facsimile terminals in the world, with just under 10 fax terminals per 100 telephone subscriber lines. Japanese companies are the largest suppliers of fax terminals. *

Internet: The figures for Internet growth are remarkable. Between 1981 and 1986, Internet grew 68% per year. Between 1986 and 1991, the annual rate increased to 191% and the network added just over 1 million new users per year. During the first part of 1993, even though growth slowed in percentage terms, the network was adding about 750,000 new users per month.

Sources: Guinness Book of Records; Guinness Book of World Records; World Telecommunication Development Report 1994, prepared by the International Telecommunication Union.

International Calls

Traffic volume (1986 - 1995) 1995: 60 billion Note: 1993-1995 figures are estimated

Source: TeleGeography, Inc.

U.S. Outgoing Traffic

Where most calls go (1992), Canada 21.9%

Source: TeleGeography, Inc.

Breakdown of Internet Networks by Region for 1993

70%: Americas

27%: Europe

2%: Asia-Pacific

1%: Other

Source: World Telecommuication Development Report Sources: Guinness Book of Records; Guinness Book of World Records; World Telecommunication Development Report 1994, prepared by the International Telecommunication Union