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North Korea cell phone ban report incorrect, says Orascom
North Koreans have not been banned from using mobile phones during a mourning period for Kim Jong Il despite a press report to the contrary, according to the majority owner of North Korea’s nationwide cellular network. The U.K.’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on January 26th that the North Korean government had warned citizens they would be “branded as ‘war…
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Koryolink hits a million subscribers
Koryolink, North Korea’s only commercial 3G cell phone network, has signed up its millionth subscriber. The landmark was reached just over three years since service was launched. Koryolink has been adding more than 100,000 new subscribers for each of the last five quarters and was expected to hit the million mark in early 2012. The…
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Koryolink sponsors Taekwondo championship
This week’s earnings report for Koryolink, North Korea’s only widely available cell phone service, highlighted something I missed back in September: the company was a major sponsor of the 17th Taekwondo World Championships. The event took place in Pyongyang from September 6th to 12th. Koryolink banners were strung around the Taekwando Hall where the international…
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Koryolink surpasses 800,000 3G subscriptions
North Korea’s nationwide 3G cellular network could miss an end-of-year target to have a million subscribers despite two successive quarters of record subscriber growth. Koryolink added 142,000 subscriptions in the third quarter, beating the 131,000 subscriptions added in the previous three months, to end September with 809,000 users. That leaves it 191,000 subscribers short of hitting a…
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Nautilus on DPRK’s digital revolution
The Nautilus Institute contends in a new report that North Korea is on the cusp of digital transformation thanks to the increasing importance of cell phones and computers in the country. The report, which is available online (PDF), is a comprehensive and well-researched history and study of the emerging digital communications business in North Korea and…
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Orascom planning 3G Internet service
Orascom Telecom is planning to add Internet service to its 3G cellular offering in North Korea, according to the Choson Exchange blog. Writing in a post on Sunday, Geoffrey K. See, the organization’s executive director and founder, says the service is currently being tested but should be available in the near future. The information on the…
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Koryolink sees another record quarter
Koryolink, North Korea’s only 3G network operator, added a record number of subscribers in the second quarter of 2011, but the company will have to push harder if it’s to reach a million users by the end of the year. The company ended the quarter with 666,517 subscribers, according to Orascom Telecom. Egypt’s Orascom holds…
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Internet, mobile phones eyed for Mt. Kumgang
North Korea plans to allow Internet access and the use of mobile phones by visitors to the Mount Kumgang tourism zone. Visitors are typically relieved of their mobile phones when entering North Korea and public Internet access is not available inside the country. But the country is establishing a special tourism zone around Mount Kumgang,…
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Fines for using Chinese mobile phones
AsiaPress has detailed the fines North Koreans face if they get caught using Chinese mobile phones. The use of such phones is prohibited in North Korea, but some citizens secretly use them to make uncensored calls to contacts in China, South Korea and other countries. Among them are a handful of North Korean “citizen reporters”…
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Koryolink hits half a million 3G subscriptions
Are things starting to get tough for Koryolink? North Korea’s only 3G cellular provider has published its quarterly results and the headline numbers look good. Subscriptions are at a record 535,133 and quarterly revenue has never been higher at US.8 million, but look a little closer and you’ll see the company is having to push…