Although Romania's telecommunications systems had developed moderately by the 1980s, they lagged behind those of other Comecon members. In 1989 Romania operated thirty-nine AM and thirty FM radio stations, thirty-eight television broadcasting stations, and one satellite ground station. Television was not introduced until the mid-1960s, and, although the number of receivers owned by the population rose steadily to about 3.9 million in 1989, television did not have the pervasive influence on society that it did in other parts of Eastern Europe. Only about twenty-two hours of television programming were broadcast each week (see Mass Media , ch.4). In 1988 the Bucharest Electronics Enterprise, the sole manufacturer of television sets in Romania, expected to produce 650,000 black-and-white and color television receivers, about half of which would be exported. The plant also manufactured radios. Much of the local telephone system had been automated by the late 1980s. In 1985 there were 1,962,681 telephone subscribers in Romania.
Data as of July 1989