Areas north and west of Keren are known to be heavily mined. Business Services Business services are available in Asmara and, to a lesser degree, in Massawa and Assab. Outside of these urban centers phone and automobile services are not widely available, and hotels may lack hot water and electricity. International telephone calls can be made either at the major hotels, at the telecommunications center in downtown Asmara, Massawa and Assab, or at phone-card payphones found all over Asmara and Massawa. The Eritrean Telecommunication Authority hopes to have at least one pay phone in every village within the next five years.
Facsimile services are available at major hotels and the telecommunications office.
Hotel reservations should be made at least two weeks in advance, since rooms may not be available on short notice. The new Asmara Palace Hotel will be completed by the end of 1998 and the expansion of the Bologna and Expo Hotels should alleviate the room shortages and bring much needed competition. The choice of hotels in Massawa and Assab are much more limited both in terms of quantity and quality. Hotels are listed in Appendix H. Office space and housing is expensive, compared to hotel accommodation. There is no official language in Eritrea but the local language Tigrinya and Arabic are the working languages.