Electronic Communications in Latvia
Aldis Ciekurs
In the last decades both electronic communication and information technology have advanced rapidly in Latvia. In addition both of these technological fields have merged into one. In the early 1990ies Latvia inherited the USSR communication system in which all messages passed through an old, technically worn out infrastructure. But with 1991 the situation started to change when the state company Lattelecom was founded. In the same year Latvia Mobile Telephone – LMT was established and was gradually followed by the formation of other companies. The author examines the detailed history of Lattelecom during the following 15 years including its’ various mergers with and takeovers by Scandinavian companies.
In 1993 Latvia was granted and international telephone code and modernization of the whole Latvian telephone system began. From 1995 the use of mobile telephones grew and new companies like Baltcom GSM (now Tele 2) were established. Soon Internet connections were set up and the number of Internet users is expected to grow rapidly. With the assistance from EU financing Internet access will be expanded to all regions of Latvia.