Vietnam, 1991

Phonecards appeared in Vietnam in 1991, late comparing to other countries. A trial issue of two cards, both showing the Post & Telecom building, went on experimentally for two years, but then came officially the…

Macau, 1990

The magnetic card telephone system of the GPT was installed in the Chinese autonomous region in April 1990, when it was still a Portuguese colony. For the occasion two sets of 7 cards each were…

Hong Kong, 1984

The magnetic cards supplied by the Swiss Autelca have been used for many years in the former British colony, which since 1997 is a special administrative region of China. The first issued cards, commonly called…

India, 1989

The Indian telephone company used two types of telephone cards, both supplied by the Indian company Aplab: the chipcard, which was in effect a disposable card and mounted chips made by Aplab itself or by…

Sri Lanka, 1992

At the beginning of the 1990s, two telephone companies shared the market in Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka Telecom and Lanka Pay Phones. Both companies had their own phone cards: first the Lanka Pay Phones, which…

Cambodia, 1992

The first public issue of this country dates back to 1993, with a series of three cards provided by Anritsu and depicting scenes from ancient temples; however, as early as the year before, phone cards…

Maldives, 1987

The Maldivian telecom is the Dhiraagu that was founded in 1988, but until then the telephone service was provided by Cable & Wireless. A trial with cards provided by Autelca was conducted at the end…

Yemen, 1985

Until 1990, the state of Yemen was divided into two parts: the Arab Republic of Yemen, or Yemen of the North, and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, also known as Yemen of the South.…

Saudi Arabia, 1984

Saudi Arabia adopted the magnetic card system provided by GPT in 1993, but in previous years several tests were conducted with various systems: in addition to the GPT itself, also with Anritsu, Alcatel, and, first…

Qatar, 1984

The first public card-operated telephones were supplied to Qatar Telecom in 1984, together with the first supply of cards to be used as field trials. These were two values, 100 and 200 QR (the local…