Back to Country Profile
Historical Values
Year Value
1990 above average system includes open-wire lines, coaxial cables, radio relay, and troposcatter links; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT; over 38,200 telephones; stations--14 AM, 1 FM, 7 (30 repeaters) TV
1991 above average system includes open-wire lines, coaxial cables, radio relay, and troposcatter links; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT; over 38,200 telephones; stations--14 AM, 1 FM, 7 (30 repeaters) TV
1992 above average system includes open-wire lines, coaxial cables, radio relay, and troposcatter links; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and broadcast stations - 17 AM, 3 FM, 1 (36 repeaters) TV
1993 above average system includes open-wire lines, coaxial cables, radio relay, and troposcatter links; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and broadcast stations - 17 AM, 3 FM, 1 (36 repeaters) TV
1994 above average system includes open-wire lines, coaxial cables, radio relay, and troposcatter links; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and broadcast stations - 17 AM, 3 FM, 1 (36 repeaters) TV
1995 NA telephones; above average system local: NA intercity: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links international: submarine cable to Bahrain; 1 earth station for Indian Ocean INTELSAT
1996 system is above average for Africa domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links international: submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean Region)
1997 system is above average for Africa domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links international: submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean Region)
1998 system is above average for Africa domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links international: submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations-1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean Region)
1999 system is above average for Africa domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links international: submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations--1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
2000 system is above average for the region domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links international: submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
2001 general assessment: system is above average for the region domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links international: submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
2002 general assessment: system is above average for the region domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links connect regions international: submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
2003 general assessment: system is above average for the region domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links connect regions international: submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
2004 general assessment: system is above average for the region domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links connect regions international: country code - 261; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
2005 general assessment: system is above average for the region domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links connect regions international: country code - 261; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
2006 general assessment: system is above average for the region domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links connect regions international: country code - 261; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
2007 general assessment: system is above average for the region domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links connect regions international: country code - 261; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
2008 general assessment: system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed; have added more than 50,000 new fixed lines since 2005 domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile telephone density only about 12 per 100 persons international: country code - 261; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean re
2009 general assessment: system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed; have added new fixed lines since 2005 domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile telephone density about 25 per 100 persons international: country code - 261; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean region) (2008)
2010 general assessment: system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed; have been adding fixed line connections since 2005 domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 30 per 100 persons international: country code - 261; SEACOM undersea fiber-optic cable and the Lion undersea cable connecting to Reunion and Mauritius; satellite earth stations -
2011 general assessment: system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed; have been adding fixed line connections since 2005 domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 30 per 100 persons international: country code - 261; SEACOM undersea fiber-optic cable and the Lion undersea cable connecting to Reunion and Mauritius; satellite earth stations -
2012 general assessment: system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 40 per 100 persons international: country code - 261; landing point for the EASSy, SEACOM, and LION fiber-optic submarine cable systems; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean regio
2013 general assessment: system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 40 per 100 persons international: country code - 261; landing point for the EASSy, SEACOM, and LION fiber-optic submarine cable systems; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean regio
2014 general assessment: system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 40 per 100 persons international: country code - 261; landing point for the EASSy, SEACOM, and LION fiber-optic submarine cable systems; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean regio
2015 general assessment: system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed | domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 40 per 100 persons | international: country code - 261; landing point for the EASSy, SEACOM, and LION fiber-optic submarine cable systems; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean r
2016 general assessment: system is above average for the region; competition among the three mobile service providers has spurred recent growth in the mobile market | domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 45 per 100 persons | international: country code - 261; landing point for the EASSy, SEACOM, and LION fiber-optic submarine cable systems; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean region) (2015)
2017 general assessment: system is above average for the region; competition among the three mobile service providers has spurred recent growth in the mobile market | domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 45 per 100 persons | international: country code - 261; landing point for the EASSy, SEACOM, and LION fiber-optic submarine cable systems; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean region) (2016)
2018 general assessment: system is above average for the region; competition among the four mobile service providers has spurred recent growth in the mobile market and helped the service to be less expensive for the consumer; LTE services available (2017) | domestic: less than 1 per 100 for fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 35 per 100 persons (2017) | international: country code - 261; landing point for the EASSy, SEACOM, and LION fiber-optic submarine cable systems; satellite earth st
2019 general assessment: system is above average for the region; competition among the four mobile service providers has spurred recent growth in the mobile market and helped the service to be less expensive for the consumer; LTE services available (2018) | domestic: less than 1 per 100 for fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 35 per 100 persons (2018) | international: country code - 261; landing points for the EASSy, METISS, and LION fiber-optic submarine cable systems connecting to nume
2020 general assessment: system is above average for the region; competition among the four mobile service providers has spurred recent growth in the mobile market and helped the service to be less expensive for the consumer; 3G and LTE services available; Telecom service tax raised to 10% (2020) | domestic: less than 1 per 100 for fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity about 41 per 100 persons (2019) | international: country code - 261; landing points for the EASSy, METISS, and LION fiber-optic
2021 general assessment: penetration rates below African average; competition among mobile service providers has spurred recent growth in the mobile market and reduced consumer costs; 3G and LTE services available; fiber backbone connects major cities with wireless networks upgraded to LTE; government committed to free WiFi hotspots to ensure universal access; telecom service tax raised to 10%; investment in submarine cable to South Africa and Mauritius; importer of broadcasting and video equipment f
2022 general assessment: telecom services in Madagascar have benefited from intensifying competition between the main operators; there have been positive developments with the country s link to international submarine cables, particularly the METISS cable connecting to South Africa and Mauritius; in addition, the country s connection to the Africa-1 cable, expected in late 2023, will provide it with links to Kenya, Djibouti, countries in north and south Africa, as well Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia
2023 general assessment: telecom services in Madagascar have benefited from intensifying competition between the main operators; there have been positive developments with the country s link to international submarine cables, particularly the METISS cable connecting to South Africa and Mauritius; in addition, the country s connection to the Africa-1 cable, expected in late 2023, will provide it with links to Kenya, Djibouti, countries in north and south Africa, as well Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia
2024 general assessment: internet service is fast compared to other African countries, and telecom services in Madagascar have benefited from intensifying competition between the main operators; there have been positive developments with the country s link to international submarine cables, particularly the METISS cable connecting to South Africa and Mauritius; in addition, the country s connection to the Africa-1 cable, which arrived in 2023, provides links to Kenya, Djibouti, countries in north and