Category: Cellular

  • Kim Jong Un visits ‘cell phone factory’

    Kim Jong Un visited on Saturday the Pyongyang factory where North Korean cell phones are supposedly made, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Photos of the visit, released by KCNA, show Kim touring the May 11 Factory and talking to officials. There’s also a picture of what’s said to be the latest cell phone…

  • Koryolink hits 2 million subscribers

    Koryolink hits 2 million subscribers

    North Korea’s Koryolink cellular network has hit the 2 million subscriber mark, majority owner Orascom Telecom said this week. The landmark was reached in late May, 15 months after it surpassed the million subscriber mark. Koryolink launched its 3G cellular service in the final days of December 2008 and in the last four years has…

  • Koryolink nears 2 million subscribers

    Koryolink nears 2 million subscribers

    Koryolink, North Korea’s sole 3G cellular service provider, is close to hitting the 2 million subscriber mark. The news was disclosed this week by the Koryolink CEO Ezz Heikal in Pyongyang and later confirmed by the company’s head office in Cairo. It means that Koryolink will have roughly doubled its subscriber base in the last 15 months.…

  • Mobile Internet service reportedly stopped for tourists

    Mobile Internet service reportedly stopped for tourists

    Well, that didn’t last for long. Short-term tourists entering the DPRK can no longer get mobile Internet service, according to Koryo Tours. “3G access is no longer available for tourists to the DPRK. Sim cards can still be purchased to make international calls but no internet access is available,” the Beijing-based North Korean tourism specialist…

  • Koryolink mobile Internet charges detailed

    Koryolink mobile Internet charges detailed

    Ever since it became known last week that foreigners in Pyongyang would be able to get access to mobile Internet services through Koryolink, the big unanswered question has been ‘how much?’. We now know, thanks to a report from China’s Xinhua News Agency, and prospective users might not like the answer. The news agency said a…

  • Koryolink to give foreigners mobile data

    Koryolink to give foreigners mobile data

    Foreigners visiting North Korea should be able to get mobile data service on their cellphones within the coming week, according to a report on Friday. Koryolink, the country’s only 3G cellphone network, plans to allow visitors to buy mobile Internet when they arrive in the country, the AP said in a report from Pyongyang. The…

  • Koryolink international calling rates detailed

    Koryolink international calling rates detailed

    Over the weekend a series of stories from Pyongyang reported that visitors to North Korea can now buy SIM cards for the local Koryolink network so they can make international calls while in the country. Thanks to an update from Young Pioneer Tours, which was the first to report on the new service, we now…

  • Policy change allows tourist cell phones, Internet to come, says Xinhua

    Policy change allows tourist cell phones, Internet to come, says Xinhua

    The North Korean government is now allowing tourists to keep hold of their cell phones when they enter the country and buy SIM cards on the local network, according to a report by China’s Xinhua news agency. The report comes hours after Young Pioneer Tours said tourists on their most recent trip were able to…

  • Tourists allowed to take in cell phones

    Tourists allowed to take in cell phones

    Young Pioneer Tours, one of the handful of agencies taking tourists into North Korea, reports that a group just returned from the country were permitted by customs officials to take their cell phones into the country. The news is intriguing because North Korea has long taken phones from visitors as they cross the border. The…

  • Orascom CEO back in Pyongyang

    Orascom CEO back in Pyongyang

    The CEO of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT), which owns 75 percent of North Korea’s sole 3G cellular operator, is back in Pyongyang, according to KCNA. [Updated. See below] The North Korean news agency said Naguib Sawiris arrived on October 4 with four colleagues. It provided a couple of pictures of Sawiris and…