In 1996 Tibet had more than 139 post offices, 74,000 kilometers of postal service routes, and 650 kilometers of air mail routes.Volume of postal business registered an 88 percent increase from the previous year. Satellite long-distance transmission is available in cities and towns and half of the counties; they are likewise part of the long-distance telephone automatic switching network. Statistics show, from 1995 to 1998, investments in the posts and tele-communications services reached 1.597 billion yuan. By 1999, the region had 80 satellite transmission and ground stations, and 74 counties had gained access to program-controlled telephone service. Recent years also saw the establishment of the Lhasa Program-Controlled Telephone Bureau, the Postal Hub Building, 900 megacell mobile phones and a beeper paging system covering five districts. There were 1,841 long-distance telephone circuits, a long-distance automatic switching capacity adding up to 5,810 terminals, a telephone exchange capacity totalling 59,000 circuits, and a mobile phone capacity of 85 channels. Telephone popularity rate reached 1.6 sets per 10,000 people. The integration of long-distance and local calling systems in cities and towns has been fundamentally realized. A modern post and telecommunications network revolving around Lhasa, linking the cities and rural areas, has been established. Mobile phones are gaining popularity in Tibet, with the number of subscribers having since 1989 been increased to 57,200 in 2000.

Lhasa is now part of the international and domestic automatic telephone network. Using program-controlled telephones, one can dial direct to more than 180 countries and regions in the world and throughout China. Subscribers can directly communicate by telephone with most countries. Some telegraph lines can transmit telexes. Lhasa has express mail and special delivery service to nearly 200 cities in China.

The region has two international postal routes passing into neighboring countries at the Zam entry/exit port and Yadong in Xigaze Prefecture.