Telecommunications in Timor-Leste

[citation needed] According to a press release issued by Portugal Telecom in June 2008, the total number of fixed phones (landline) was 3,000 and mobile cellular was 103,000.

[6] In 2002, Timor Telecom signed a 15-year contract to invest US$29 million to rebuild and operate the phone system.

All voice and data are carried out by Intelsat, using a direct satellite link with one hop to their downlink in Portugal.

[7] Timor Telecom offers mobile GSM services covering approximately 92% of the population,[8] 100% of the districts, and 57% of the sub-districts.

[14] The first Internet connection in East Timor was made by the United Nations APDIP Programme in 1999 to support UNTAET, the UN Transitional Administration.

There are three mobile operators in Timor-Leste providing the bulk of Internet connectivity to the population using 3G, 4G LTE, and HSDPA: While ADSL and dedicated line infrastructure is offered by some of the operators, it is prohibitively expensive to install and is in most cases more expensive per GB than cellular options.

[19][20] Most individuals, organisations, and businesses thus rely on the cellular network for their Internet needs using smartphones, 4G modems and 4G routers.

All operators rely on satellite communication for their uplink to the wider internet, which results in slow response times and drives up data prices.

A project to physically connect Timor-Leste to Indonesia using a submarine fiber optic cable has been greenlit by the Government in 2018,[24] but as of 2019, no progress appears to have been made.

Telemor and Telkomcel offer heavily discounted social media packages, with a focus on services owned by Facebook.