
Telecommunication in Laos
Compared to the United States, Laos is massively lagging behind in the development of telecommunications. Under the country code +856, there were a total of 6.12 million connections in 2021. Among them were 4.82 million mobile phones, which corresponds to an average of 0.65 per person. In the US, this figure is 1.1 mobile phones per person.With about 1,532 webhosts, Laos is below the world's average by population. At the end of 2020, 384 of these, or about 25 percent, were secured with SSL or comparable encryption.
Back to overview: Laos
Development of telephone and internet connections
With an average download speed of 29.09 Mbit/second for fixed-network broadband internet, Laos ranks 111st in an international comparison. The upload rate was only 26.47 Mbit/second (70th place).In mobile internet, i.e., on tablets and smartphones, Laos comes 68th with a download speed of 29.21 Mbit/second. The upload speed of around 15 Mbit was enough for 24th place.
The Speedtest Global Index published regularly by Ookla is based on several million individual measurements in December 2022 from 178 countries.
The following diagrams show the development of the various telephone and internet connections as a percentage of the country's population. Values above 100 percent mean that, on average, every inhabitant has more than one connection.
Access to the internet in Laos from 1990 - 2021
Broadband internet in Laos 2003 - 2021

Landlines 1990 - 2021
Mobile phones 1990 - 2021
Distribution in 2021 | Laos Total | Laos percent | USA Total | USA percent |
---|---|---|---|---|
Broadband users | 150,755.00 | 2.03 % | 127.03 m | 38.27 % |
Landlines | 1.30 m | 17.51 % | 97.11 m | 29.26 % |
Mobile cellulars | 4.82 m | 64.96 % | 361.62 m | 108.96 % |