... the average waiting time for telephones is expected to drop to one year by the end of 1997 (down from over 10 years in the early 1990's); note-the former state-owned telecommunications firm MATAV-now privatized and managed by a US/German consortium-has ambitious plans to upgrade the inadequate system, including a contract with the German firm Siemens and the Swedish firm Ericsson to provide 600,000 new phone lines during 1996-98 domestic: microwave radio relay international: satellite earth stations-1 Intelsat and ... — The 1998 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.