North Korea reportedly has made arrangements to launch its own
3G cellular network, but details on how it works, how it will be accessed and, in particular, who can use it are sketchy.
Orascom reportedly has just been given a 25-year license to operate an exclusive four-year telecommunications contract within North Korea.
Published reports said the new network is operated by Cheo Technology, a joint venture between Orascom (which owns 75 percent) and the state-run Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp. (KPTC). Cheo has the exclusive rights to operate cell service tax-free for the first five years. Orascom said it will invest $400 million in the network.
The system is being constructed to offer North Koreans affordable voice and data services. However, the country is one of the poorest in Asia and its citizens' actions are tightly controlled by their government. Critics have wondered openly just who will be able to access the network.
This is not the first time North Korea has been flirting with providing cell phone service. In 2003, service was launched but then restricted the next year following an explosion that appeared to be an assassination attempt on leader Kim Jong II.
Right now, North Koreans must smuggle cell phones from neighboring China and use Chinese cell signals to communicate. However, the phones themselves are illegal in North Korea.
