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The establishment of a modern telecommunication system in Dehong took off in the early 1990s. In March 1994, the Dehong Prefecture Local Call Net was set up. And in June of the same year, two optical cable lines with a total length of 274.83 kilometers were laid within the Prefecture. One was the "Luxi—Wanding —Ruili—Zhangfeng—Longchuan" line, and the other was the "Luxi—Yingjiang—Lianghe" line.
Two major mobile telecom carriers—China Mobile and China Unicom—started their business in Dehong in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The China Mobile Dehong Branch was founded in 1999 to run “GoTone”, IP telephone, GPRS, and other mobile telecom services. In 2000, the Dehong Branch of China Unicom was established to complement and compete with China Mobile.
So far a digitalized and SPC-featured telecommunication network has been set up in Dehong Prefecture. Optical cable and fixed line have reached every town and village within the Prefecture. CDMA-based mobile phone network is in service, and internet access is available in all the downtown and suburb areas as well as in some of the rural areas within Dehong Prefecture. Currently, Dehong has a mobile switch capacity of over 300,000 lines, and more then 200 base stations in use. Wireless signal is available in the city proper, every county and trading port, most of the scenic spots, and 95% areas along highways.
By 2005, the Dehong Branch of China Unicom had a total number of 251 base stations and 180,000 mobile phone users. By the end of 2008, Dehong Branch of China Mobile had more than 500,000 mobile phone users.
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