Telecom
Koryolink hits half a million 3G subscriptions
May 20th
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$25.8 million, but look a little closer and you’ll see the company is having to push harder to get new customers and existing customers are spending less.
Quarterly growth was 103,214 subscriptions, the third highest yet recorded since service began in the final weeks of 2008. That growth made the January to March quarter the first since mid 2009 where quarter-on-quarter growth failed to More >
Koryolink 2010 full-year results
Apr 19th
Full-year results for Koryolink, North Korea’s only 3G cellular carrier, have been announced by Egypt’s Orascom Telecom. Orascom holds a 75 percent stake in Cheo Technology, which is the company that operates the Koryolink service. The remaining 25 percent stake is held by the government-run Korea Posts and Telecommunications Co. (KPTC).
The results show continued strong performance for the unit, which has been trying to expand use of the service by offering lower prices.
You can read the headline take in this story: North Korea’s Sole 3G Operator Sees Users and Revenue Surge, PC World.
The network expansion has continued and the company More >
UN Special Rapporteur calls for freedoms in DPRK
Mar 6th
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the DPRK has called for increased freedom of information and access to independent media for the people of North Korea. The calls came in a 76-point report submitted on Feb. 21, 2011, to the UN’s Human Rights Council.
The rapporteur, Marzuki Darusman, met with defectors, politicians and others in South Korea and Japan when compiling the report. Darusman previously served as Indonsia’s Attorney General and was a member of the country’s National Commission of Human Rights.
In the report, he covers access to independent and international media, Internet access, press freedom and the dangers associated More >
Report: Cell phone rentals to visitors suspended
Feb 21st
North Korea has suspended a cell-phone rental service for visiting foreigners, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.
The suspension began in January and could, speculates Kyodo, “reflect concern in the North over the flow of information about democracy demonstrations sweeping the Middle East.”
Telecommunications systems, including cell phones and the Internet, have proved instrumental in the growing civil unrest that has already engulfed several Middle Eastern states. In Egypt the government shut off both networks at the height of the unrest.
North Koreans don’t have access to the Internet, but at least 300,000 of them carry cell phones, according to data from the operator. More >
Pyongyang Earth Station
Feb 7th
In Pyongyang’s eastern suburb of Sadong lies one of North Korea’s gateways with the world. The satellite earth station, pictured below, links the country with international communications satellites.
Construction of the earth station began in early 1984, a few months before North Korea joined the Soviet-led Intersputnik group.
Back then, Intersputnik served as the satellite telecommunications coordinating body for socialist countries, and linked the Soviet Union and other Soviet-bloc states.
The DPRK was admitted as Intersputnik’s 14th member during a meeting in Karl Marx Stadt, East Germany (today called Chemnitz), in September 1984.
The earth station was inaugurated in October 1985, according to a More >
3G users to hit 1 million this year, says report
Feb 4th
North Korea is expecting the number of 3G users in the country will reach 1 million this year, according to a Chinese television report.
The prediction was made by a staffer of Chesin Commercial Corp., the government-linked company that runs North Korea’s international e-mail service, in an interview with Chinese Central Television (CCTV).
“It is expected that mobile phone users will reach one million in 2011,” the man, identified as Lee Churl Suh, told the Chinese state-run broadcaster in Pyongyang.
It was included in a report that focused on the popularity of cell phones in North Korea. The report was distributed to broadcasters More >
IP Phone system developed
Jan 29th
Kim Il Sung University’s Information Center has developed an IP phone system, according to a brief KCNA report on Thursday.
IP phone systems send calls as digital data over IP (Internet protocol) based networks. While widespread access to the Internet is not available in North Korea, the same IP technology is used on Kwangmyong, the nationwide intranet that connects universities and government offices.
The new system supports calls between computers, between PCs and telephones and between telephones, said KCNA.
It has various options, including video phone call and telephone meeting. It makes it possible to use telephone, IP telephone and soft telephone. – More >
Orascom CEO meets Kim Jong Il
Jan 24th
The CEO of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom was given a dinner in his honor hosted by Kim Jong Il on Sunday night, KCNA reported on Monday. (Scroll down for updates)
Naguib Sawiris arrived in the North Korean capital on Friday and his meeting with the North Korean leader was the first reported details of his activities.
The report said Kim, “warmly welcomed his DPRK visit taking place at a time when Orascom′s investment is making successful progress in different fields of the DPRK, including telecommunications. He had a cordial talk with him.”
[Read my report at Network World]
A reception with Kim Jong Il is More >
North Korea tops 3G ranking
Jan 12th
The late start of cellular telephony in North Korea has brought the country at least one advantage: it leads the world in 3G adoption.
An impressive 99.9 percent of all subscribers in the country use 3G, placing North Korea number one in the world, telecommunication analyst TeleGeography said on Wednesday.
The solid showing doesn’t really mean North Korea’s cellular network is ahead of the world. In fact, it does more to illustrate how statistics can sometimes provide only half the picture.
While 3G adoption is indeed strong, it’s because most people didn’t have a chance to subscribe to the country’s 2G network.
A small More >
Expansion at Pyongyang TV Tower
Jan 12th
There appears to have been a significant expansion of communications capability at Pyongyang TV tower over the last decade. Analysis of satellite imagery through Google Earth shows big expansion of a neighboring building and the addition of multiple satellite dishes. (See the bottom of this post for updates.)
Here’s what the building looked like on June 3, 2000, which is the earliest image available in Google Earth. To its west two satellite dishes are visible. The TV Tower is just to the east of this building and you can see the top of the tower on the right-hand side of the More >
