Search results for koryolink
Orascom CEO back in Pyongyang
Oct 6th
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 his party at the airport.
From the airport, Sawiris went to the Mansudae Art Studio where he visited the equestrian statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and paid his respects. He laid a bouquet and “paid tribute to the peerlessly great persons,” according to the KCNA report.
Later More >
North Korea cell phone ban report incorrect, says Orascom
Feb 15th
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 criminals’ and punished accordingly” if caught attempting to defect or use mobile phones during a 100-day period of national mourning.
The report was widely picked up by other news outlets, including Forbes, Foreign Policy, Global Post, and Computerworld and made for great headlines (“In N. Korea, use a cellphone and die”), but there More >
Orascom planning 3G Internet service
Oct 17th
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 service came from a meeting with Orascom employees in Pyongyang.
At first it will be available to resident foreigners living in Pyongyang. So far there is no approval for a wider service, even in censored form, for the North Korean subscribers. Orascom didn’t provide any details on More >
Internet, mobile phones eyed for Mt. Kumgang
Jul 11th
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, the scenic North Korean mountain resort that was the subject of a previous tourism agreement with Hyundai. The South Korean company halted tours to the area in July 2008 after a South Korean tourist was accidentally shot while walking along a beach in the region.
More than a 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 >
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 >
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 >
DPRK Cell-phone dialing codes
Aug 31st
A post on NKEconWatch has some hard-to-find information about cell phone dialing codes in North Korea. The details show how basic communications controls exist based on the type of account and customer.
SUNNET (2G GSM network, from 2002)
+850 193 801 plus 4-digit number (when being called from overseas) 193 801 plus 4-digit number (when calling SUNNET to SUNNET) 193 801 plus 4-digit number (when calling from Pyongyang “381” landlines to SUNNET)
KORYOLINK (3G network, from late 2008)
+850 192 250 numbers are for foreigners +850 192 260 numbers are for locals
Pyongyang “382” landline numbers cannot reach SUNNET cell phones. SUNNET subscribers can call More >
North Korean 3G customers double in Q2
Aug 26th
The number of cellular subscriptions in North Korea more than doubled in the second quarter of this year although average revenue per user (ARPU) fell, Orascom Telecom said.
Koryolink, in which Orascom owns a majority stake, had 47,863 subscribers at the end of June. That’s more than twice as many as at the end of April, when the total stood at 19,208, said Orascom. The Egyptian company owns cellular networks in several developing markets, including a 75 percent stake in Koryolink. The remainder is held by the state-run Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp.
Read the full story at Network World.
More >
