Booming Telecom in Tibet

LI RONGHUA

VSAT stations have been set up in various counties in Tibet.

In the 1920s, in accordance with the order from the 13th Dalai Lama, the Telegraph Office, called Darkam in Tibetan, was inaugurated on May 26, 1912. It had a telegraph line connected with the telegraph office operated by the British in Gyangze.

In 1947, Darkam opened a radio station in Lhasa, with sub-stations set up in Ngari, Qamdo, Ngaqu, Xigaze and Yadong. In the meantime, a radio phone service was offered for all in Lhasa and Qamdo at a cost of five taels of silver per five minutes.

Darkam was closed after those on the upper ruling class in Tibet staged an armed rebellion in March 1959.

TELEPHONE EXCHANGES. A magnetic exchange was the earliest to be adopted in Lhasa in 1952. In the ensuing years, similar ones were established in Qamdo, Xigaze, Gyangze, Nagqu, Nyingchi, Zetang, Yadong and Ngari. By 1976, there were 3,780 exchanges in Tibet, 165 connected with post offices.

Mobile phone antenna in Lhasa.

In 1977, Xigaze took the lead to open a 400-line inner-city automatic telephone service, which proved to be very reliable and safe.

In 1978, the Lhasa Post Office opened a 1,500-line automatic exchange, which later doubled its capacity.

In 1979, Gyangze opened a 1,500-line automatic exchange and Nagqu one of 200 lines. At this point, many other parts of Tibet were still using magnetic telephone sets with handles. Installation of modern telephone exchanges were obviously epoch making.

On May 1, 1980, a 400-line automatic exchange was opened in the Shannan Post Office. In October the same year, Qamdo opened its 400-line automatic exchange, followed by Ngari in June 1987, and Nyingchi in July 1988.

By 1990, there were automatic exchanges with a capacity of 10,290 lines throughout Tibet. However, all these exchanges were hand connected and energy guzzlers. And the telephone service was still not available to 21 of the region’s counties.

Lhasa Long-Distance Telecommunications Building.

PROGRAM CONTROLLED EXCHANGES. Tibet ventured to contact the Bell Co. of Belgium in 1988 for modern telephone equipment. In 1990, the Chinese and Belgian Governments signed an agreement on providing Lhasa with the technology and equipment for establishing a modern telephone station.

Construction of the S1240 program-controlled exchanges, with 5,000 lines, started in 1991 and was completed before the end of that year. After a three-month trial operation, the project went into official operation on March 28, 1993. By November the same year, program-controlled inner-city and inter-city services were available to Xigaze, Nyingchi, Shannan, Qamdo, Ngaqu and Ngari.

In 1995, Lhasa expanded its capacity to 20,000 lines, raising the national total to 90,256 lines.

Construction of the S1240 program-controlled exchange in Nyingchi in June 1998 helped expand the area’s capacity from 4,096 to 10,240 lines.

LONG-DISTANCE TELEPHONE SERVICE. In 1956, radio telephone service was started between Gyangze and Lhasa, and between Nagqu and Lhasa. In the following year, long-distance telephone service was offered to Gyangze, Pari and Yadong. In 1959, long-distance telephone lines were erected between Nanggarze and Darlung and between Gyangze and Kangmar. By 1993, long-distance telephone lines extended to 2,000 km, crossing 14 mountains, 15 rivers, 750-km forests and 20 glaciers. Laid jointly by postal service workers and PLA men, they went into official service in 1983.

Such telephone service was offered to farmers and herders in Lhasa, Shannan, Qamdo and Xigaze in 1974. Efforts were made to exploit communication satellites in 1984. After six years of endeavors, SCPC satellite stations were set up in Qamdo, Ngari, Xigaze, Lhasa, Nyingchi, Ngaqu and Shannan.

Advanced long-distance telephone services were started for Lhasa and Qamdo in September 1983 and for Lhasa and Shannan (Zetang Town) in 1984. In the ensuing years, VSAT technology was exploited to set up 73 stations, putting an end to the history in which 47 counties had no access to long-distance telephone services and 21 counties had enjoyed no inner-city telephone service.

Earthen electric wire poles built during the 70s and the 80s in Tibet

OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION. Use of optical fiber cables marks a new start point in the telephone service history in Tibet. On August 28, 1995, cables were laid from Lhasa to Xigaze and from Lhasa to Shannan. The Lhasa-Xigaze line extended 340 km. PLA servicemen worked 38 days and nights to complete the task.

In 1996, the cable was erected from Lhasa to Nyingchi and from Bayi Town to Mainling.

Such a cable was laid from Zetang to Sangri and Qusum in July 1998, and from Lanzhou to Xining and further to Lhasa in August the same year. The Lanzhou-Xining-Lhasa line extended 2,754 km, crossing 23 towns including Lanzhou, Lingxia, Ping’an, Xining, Haibei, Golmud, Ngaqu and Lhasa. Altogether, 33 stations were set up along the cable way to provide with 21,330 lines. The project involved a total investment of 612 million yuan, including US$20 million in aid from Japan.

MOBILE PHONE SERVICE. In August 1993, Lhasa started its 900-megahertz mobile phone system. By 1997, such service became available in Shannan, Xigaze, Nyingchi, Ngaqu, Qamdo and Ngari. In August the same year, Lhasa started its global mobile service. Subscribers increased by 3,600 in six months. It is now common to see people in Tibet using mobile phones just like those in China’s hinterland.

Tibetan section of the Lanzhou-Xining-Lhasa Optical Fiber Cable under construction.