North Korea gets new mobile network

15 December 2008 01:07pm

An Egyptian telecoms giant has launched an advanced mobile phone network in North Korea, the latest attempt to introduce a global symbol of personal freedom into one of the world's most tightly controlled societies.

Orascom Telecom chief executive Naguib Sawiris and North Korean officials celebrated the start of the country's third generation mobile network in the capital Pyongyang, the Korean Central News Agency reported in a dispatch from Pyongyang.

Cairo-based Orascom Telecom Holding SAE has been building the network after announcing a 400 million US dollar (£267 million) deal in January. The company said it was officially launching the third generation mobile service.

Orascom runs networks in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia and has not shied from investing in places considered challenging and politically unpredictable, such as Zimbabwe.

Sawiris said the company's aim was for a "network that will accommodate the 22 million people" in North Korea, adding he was "surprised and astonished by the quality" and "advancement of the Korean people," broadcaster APTN's footage showed.

North Korea has experimented with mobile phones before and has a working mobile phone network, though not as advanced as what Orascom has built.

Orascom has said it intends to cover Pyongyang and most of the country's major cities during the first year of service. Subscriber fees had yet to be announced.

Paik Hak-soon, an expert on North Korea at South Korea's Sejong Institute, a policy think tank, said only elites are likely to have access to the network, at least in the beginning. "Government, party, military people are the big beneficiaries," he said.

Traders and people involved in the economy may also be allowed to use it, Paik said. North Korea, where Paik estimates per capita gross domestic product is less than 500 US dollars (£334) a year, has taken some steps to liberalise its dilapidated economy in recent years and has courted foreign investment.

Despite its general impoverishment, the country has consistently emphasised the importance of science and technology in its development. Orascom said it was the first foreign telecommunications company to be awarded a North Korean commercial telecommunications license and would have exclusive rights for four years.

© The Press Association