 Chile has a telecommunication system which covers much of the country, including Chilean insular and Antarctic bases.Privatization of the telephone system began in 1988; Chile has one of the most advanced telecommunications infrastructure in South America with a modern system based on extensive microwave radio relay facilities and domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations.In 2012, there were 3.276 million main lines in use and 24.13 million mobile cellular telephone subscribers.