Broadcasting

With very few exceptions, the number of television receivers per capita has increased in all ECE countries from 1995 to 2000. The highest rate of television receivers in 2000 was in the United States (854 receivers per 1 000 population). There were many televisions per capita also in San Marino (849) and Denmark (807). The lowest rate of television receivers was in Kyrgyzstan with 49 per 1 000 population. The rate of cable TV subscribers varies greatly across the region and within sub-regions. In the European Union, the Netherlands had the most subscribers (388 per 1 000 population), whereas Italy had 1 per 1 000 population. Monaco had the highest rate in the ECE region with 559. In the CIS countries cable TV is much less common, with the lowest rate in Azerbaijan at less than 0.5 per 1 000 population and the Russian Federation with the highest rate at 77. The best equipped with satellite dishes are people in Austria, (177 per 1 000 population), Hungary (172), San Marino (160), Germany (157) and Denmark (150) (Table 11.1)

Telephones

There has been an overall moderate growth in main telephone lines from 1995 to 2001 in the ECE region, but this growth is overshadowed by the growth in mobile cellular telephone subscriptions. In western Europe and North America the number of mobile phones has been growing in most countries between 30 and 70 % per year. In central and eastern Europe and in the CIS countries the annual growth has been over 100 % for a majority of the countries, albeit from a much lower initial number. The greatest numbers of users are found in Luxembourg, Iceland, Norway and Israel where at least 4 of every 5 persons have a mobile phone (Table 11.2).

Personal computers and Internet users

In all countries in the region where data are available, there has been a substantial increase in the number of personal computers. The annual growth rates from 1995 to 2000 have generally been higher in central and eastern Europe and the CIS countries than in western Europe and North America, but again, the starting point has been much lower. It is estimated that over half of the population had a PC in 2000 in the United States (585 PCs per 1 000 population), Sweden (507) and Switzerland (500). The lowest numbers per capita were found in Albania (6) and Armenia (7). The highest rates of Internet users were in Iceland (598 per 1 000 population), Norway (491), Sweden (456) and Canada (413), whereas the lowest were in Albania, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan with approximately 1 per 1 000 population (Table 11.5). Looking at the global distribution of Internet users, more than 60 per cent come from the ECE region. The United States, Canada and the European Union together constitute more than 90 percent of the Internet users in the ECE region (Figure 11.8).

Postal services

The number of posted items per capita ranged from 734 in the United States to less than 1 in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Albania. According to the available data, the workload of the post offices was the greatest in the United States where one office delivered over 5 million items per year and the Netherlands where one office delivered over 3 million per year. The post offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkmenistan Turkey and Spain serviced the largest population – on average over 10000 people per post office (Table 11.9).

Newspapers

Norway has the highest recorded circulation of daily newspapers per 1 000 population in the ECE region with 570, followed by Hungary (566), Finland (446) and Sweden (410). For non-daily newspapers the circulation varies from 1554 per 1 000 population in Monaco to 24 in Luxembourg (Table 11.11).

Cinemas

The annual attendance at cinemas varies considerably within the ECE region. In Iceland and the United States an average person goes to cinema almost every second month. In contrast, in the Republic of Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine people go to cinema on an average less than 0.1 times per year-(Figure-11.12).

Tables and charts

11.1 Broadcasting data

11.2 Telephone lines, mobile phones and fax machines, 1995 and 2000/2001

11.3 Telecommunications staff, income and investment

11.4 Price of local phone calls, 2000

11.5 Estimated personal computers and Internet users

11.6 Top Internet host countries in the UNECE region, 2001

11.7 Internet hosts 1996 to 2001

11.8 Internet users and PCs in ECE subregions and the rest of the world, 2001

11.9 Postal services, 2000

11.10 Circulation of newspapers

11.11 Annual attendance at cinemas per inhabitant, 1999

11.12 Book production, 1999