Telephone ownership in Vietnam trails behind the rest of Southeast Asia. There are 3.17 telephones for every 100 people in Vietnam, an increase from 2.67 in 1998. State-owned Vietnam Post and Telecoms reported that more than 450,000 telephones were installed in 1999, bringing the total number of telephones to 2.4 million in a country with 77 million people. The official Vietnam News reported that about 80 percent of communities across the nation now have access to telecommunications services with 500 districts and towns equipped with digital exchanges and optic and microwave cables linking all 61 provincial capitals. The rate of telephone ownership is still lower than the average of nearly 5 per 100 in Southeast Asia. But Vietnam is listed among the 10 countries that have recorded the fastest growth in the field. Vietnam charges some of the world's highest international dialing rates, in some cases triple the cost of similar calls from the US. (Associated Press, January 21, 2000)