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Koryolink reaches 100,000 subscribers

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Orascom Telecom, the Egypt-based mobile network operator, says its subsidiary in North Korea, Koryolink, has acquired 100,000 subscribers in its first year and expects to add millions more in the next five years.

The expansion plans come as the isolated country of 24m, which says it wants to be considered a “mighty and prosperous nation” by 2012, steps up efforts to attract foreign investment.

Pyongyang’s economic ambitions come in the face of tough international sanctions on its nuclear arms programme.

“We see that there is a very big plan for an economic boom,” said Khaled Bichara, chief executive of Orascom. “They are really looking to have, by 2012, a much stronger economy. We believe that mobiles and eventually international communication will definitely be part of this.”

Koryolink, a pre-pay system, has been available in Pyongyang and Nampo, the capital’s port, since December 2008. To help expand the network from there, Mr Bichara said North Korea was laying fibre-optic cables in the provinces.

Orascom was installing its most technologically advanced 3G network in North Korea, he said. The 2010 target for user numbers was ambitious but Mr Bichara declined to put a figure on it.

“I think if we achieve the target of this year, that will be a big milestone,” he said. “The number will be big enough to make Koryolink look like a significant company for us because the revenues per customer are interesting and we believe that this business will have customers in the millions within the next four or five years.”

Mr Bichara said the subscription figures showed that mobile phones were not limited to elite members of the military and communist party, as many observers had speculated.

However, the handset price of €140 ($195) put a mobile phone out of most people’s grasp.

So far, Koryolink offers only a basic voice and text messaging service. International calls and roaming services are not provided but Mr Bichara said starting them would be simple given the sophistication of the network being installed.

Koryolink is a joint venture in which Orascom has a 75 per cent stake. The rest is owned by Korea Post & Telecommunications Corp, the state fixed-line provider.

Thanks to a reader for sending this to me.

Read the full article here:
N Korea operator looks to millions of 3G users
Financial Times
Christian Oliver and Heba Saleh
2/3/2010

Posted in Cell phones, Communications, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Orascom Telecom Holding, Telephones | Comments Closed

Kaesong border communication upgraded

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

According to the Associated Press:

Military officials from the two Koreas communicated through new fiber-optic cables to help facilitate the travel of 330 South Koreans heading to an industrial complex in the North on Wednesday, Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said.

South Korea has sent fiber-optic cables and other equipment to the North to help its communist neighbour modernize its military hot lines with the South, she said.

The new hot lines replaced outdated copper cable hot lines that will remain as spare lines, said Lee, the spokeswoman.

The new hot lines will serve as a key mode of communication for border crossings for people travelling to and from the joint industrial complex at the North Korean border town of Kaesong, she added.

I assume the upgrade to fiber optic means that the bureaucracy of border crossing has been computerized. Rather than reading information across the phone line border officials can now send it electronically (including photos) to speed up processing on the North Korean side of the border.

Read the full story here:
Divided Koreas open new, updated military hot lines to facilitate border crossings
Associated Press (via Winnipeg Free Press)
12/29/2009

Posted in Communications, Foreign direct investment, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Military, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013), Telephones | Comments Closed

Koryolink continues to expand customer base

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

At the end of Q2-2009 Koryolink had signed up nearly 48,000 subscribers. At the end of Q3-2009, this number has grown to more than 69,000. According to Telegeography:

North Korea’s only mobile operator, CHEO Technology, which offers services under the Koryolink brand, has signed up 69,261 customers as at 30 September 2009. The company was awarded a 25-year licence to operate 3G services in January 2008, with the first four years on an exclusive basis. It is owned by Orascom Telecom Holding of Egypt (75%) and state-owned Korea Post and Telecoms Corporation (25%). Koryolink launched services in December 2008 in the capital Pyongyang, but the network has since been expanded to include the main road running up to the northern city of Hyangsan, with the company currently working on expanding services nationwide. In the first nine months of 2009, the cellco reported revenue of USD18.5 million, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached USD9.99 million with a margin of 54%. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for the third quarter of 2009 totalled USD21.6, down from USD22.8 in the previous quarter. With a focus on network rollout and network quality improvement, Koryolink invested USD25 million in the first nine months of 2009.

Thoughts and additional information:

1. For the record, Koryolink is not the only mobile phone operator in the DPRK. It is the only 3G operator. A little research on this site will turn up plenty of information on the DPRK’s first cell phone provider.

2. See past Koryolink and Orascom posts here.

3. It is interesting that the DPRK and Orascom have expanded 3G service from Pyongyang to Myohyangsan. Though a popular spot for North Korean elites and tourists, it is not a commercial hub by any means…

Posted in Cell phones, Communications, Orascom Telecom Holding, Telephones | 1 Comment »

South Korea helps North Korea modernize hot lines

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Associated Press
10/28/2009

South Korea sent fiber-optic cables and other equipment to North Korea on Wednesday to help its communist neighbor modernize military hot lines with the South — the latest sign of improving relations.

The shipment of communication equipment and materials worth 850 million won ($712,000) comes days after the South offered to send the North 10,000 tons of corn in its first direct food aid to the impoverished nation in nearly two years.

The North cut off six of nine hot lines in May 2008, citing technical problems, amid high tensions between the sides.

The lines were restored in September, and Pyongyang recently asked Seoul to help modernize the lines.

For a decade, South Korea was one of the biggest donors to the North, which has faced chronic food shortages since flooding and mismanagement destroyed its economy in the mid-1990s.

Posted in Communications, Military | Comments Closed

Orascom completing Ryugyong Hotel

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

UPDATE 8: According to the BBC, Orascom claims the final plans for the hotel have yet to be approved:

Dozens of Egyptian engineers and some 2,000 local workers are working on the Ryugyong project, which Orascom’s chief operating officer Khaled Bichara tells the BBC is “progressing well”, despite reported problems with suspect concrete and misaligned lift shafts.

“There have been no issues that have caused us too much trouble,” Mr Bichara says. “Most of the work at the moment is coverage of different areas of the building. The first job is to finish the outside – you can’t work on the insides until the outside is covered.

“You can see that we have already completed the top of the building where the revolving restaurant will be. After 2010, that’s when it will be fully safe to start building from the inside.”

How the building will be divided up is not yet finalised the company says, but it will be a mixture of hotel accommodation, apartments and business facilities. Antennae and equipment for Orascom’s mobile network will nestle at the very top.

Mr Bichara denies reports that the company’s exclusive access to North Korea’s fledgling telecoms market is directly linked to the completion of the hotel.

But he says the job is a way of planting a rather tall flag in the ground. “We haven’t been given a deadline, we are not tied into doing it by a certain time,” he said.

“But when you work in a market like this, where we cannot sponsor things, a project of this kind is good to do – it’s word of mouth advertising for us, it builds good rapport with the people – on its own it’s a great symbol, one which cements our investment.”

Read the full article here:
Will ‘Hotel of Doom’ ever be finished?
BBC
10/15/2009

Read previous posts about the Ryugyong’s construction below: (more…)

Posted in Cell phones, Communications, Construction, Economic reform, Foreign direct investment, Hoteling, Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Joint Ventures, Orascom Telecom Holding | 3 Comments »

Int’l Press Gets Glimpse of N.Korea’s Daily Grind

Monday, October 12th, 2009

The Choson Ilbo recently posted an article which contained several interesting facts. Quoting from the article:

A W35 million price tag for the Internet connection to transmit a five-minute piece of footage is only one of the endless list of inconveniences that make up daily life in North Korea (US$1=W1,163). Kristine Kwok, a reporter for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post who accompanied Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on his visit to North Korea on Oct. 4 to 6, recounts them in a story titled “Life in the Hermit Kingdom.”

“Accessing the Internet is a distant dream for North Korean citizens and an expensive luxury for visiting foreigners,” Kwok wrote. “Filing a news report of Wen shaking hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il would cost a TV station the equivalent of HK$233,472. The North Korean Foreign Ministry eventually decided to pay all the Internet fees for the reporters –much to their relief.”

The report said North Korea’s 24 million people are barred from the Internet, with connections available only in some hotels, where sending a picture costs around W68,000 and a single email W3,400. North Korea has set up road blocks along the information super highway and is committing “robbery,” Kwok added.

The last time I visited the DPRK, I recall that emails and phone calls from the Yangakdo Hotel are exorbitant–also, there are no phone books available and switch board operators (yes, they still have them) are of no help. If you don’t know the number you need to call you have to get creative. But, with prices like that you would think the DPRK would like more journalists to visit!

Also mentioned in the article is Pyongyang’s new fast-food Samtaesong Restaurant, which I blogged about here when it opened. According to the article “Samtaesong” translates to “three big stars”. I am going to go out on a limb and guess that those three stars are the “Three Stars of Paektu: Kim il Sung, Kim Jong Suk, and Kim Jong il.” now you can show your loyalty to the three stars while eating a burger, which is much more pleasant than standing silently in line formation under the hot sun for hours on end while political leaders you have never met read long speeches to you.

Also, “The most expensive item on the menu is ‘crispy chicken,’ which costs 3 euros, while a hamburger costs between 1.2 to 1.7 euros. That is high given the fact that North Korea’s per-capita GDP was US$1,000 last year, but AFP said Samtaeseong sells 300 burgers each day.”

Read the full article here:
Int’l Press Gets Glimpse of N.Korea’s Daily Grind
Choson Ilbo
10/13/2009

Posted in Civil society, Communications, Email, Food, Internet, Restaurants, Singapore, Telephones | 3 Comments »

Orascom financial report includes Koryolink information

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

UPDATE: According to Business Monitor International:

koryolink, North Korea’s sole mobile service provider has reported strong subscriber demand. The joint venture (JV), which is 75% controlled by Orascom Telecom of Egypt and the remainder held by state-owned Korea Post and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC), saw its subscriber base rise by 149.2% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in Q209 to end with 47,863. The operator stated it had encouraged interest in its services through further cuts in connection fees, the introduction of free SMS for the first time and the revision of free minutes to satisfy customer requirements.

Almost all of the operator’s subscribers are based in the capital Pyongyang. This is due to the prevalence of two retail outlets based in the downtown area, in addition to three KPTC shops, which sell koryolink services, while the level of network coverage is significantly higher in the capital than anywhere else in the country. Although calls can be made outside of Pyongyang, the reception is often poor, suffering from weak service quality and dropped calls.

Mobile penetration rates, based on Pyongyang’s population are estimated at 1.4%, which is significantly lower than the 30% cited by cellular-news sources. Demand for mobile in the capital has been led not by government officials and foreign ownership but by ordinary citizens. State employees and foreigners are prohibited from owning mobile handsets, which has been deemed a security risk, with authorities wishing to control information from being circulated outside. This was a primary reason for the decision to ban mobile services in the country following the explosion in the northern Ryongchon train station in April 2004, which was said to have been a failed assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who had passed through the station several hours before the explosion. A state of emergency was subsequently declared, and the country cut all telephone and mobile lines in order to stop news from getting out

While the two most likely market segment groups able to afford and own mobile handsets have been barred from usage, this has not impacted mobile revenues. Indeed, koryolink announced that its Q209 revenues had risen by 179.7% q-o-q to US$12.472mn, based on strong subscriber growth and ARPUs of US$22.8.

Meanwhile, there are plans to create a national mobile network across the country, according to the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station, as cited by state news agency Yonhap News. Fibre-optic cables are also being laid to link the capital with all provinces with the intention of supplying digital services. The automation and digital capacity of the country’s data networks are said to have already risen by some sevenfold over the last 16 years.

ORIGINAL POST: Download Orascom’s financial report for the first half of 2009 (here in PDF). The information on Koryolink is on page 24. Here is the text:

Being the first full fledged operator to serve DPRK offering attractively priced services and utilizing state of the art technologies, Koryolink was met with very positive market reception. The first of its kind mobile fair in the history of DPRK was launched during the last two weeks of March.

In order to capitalize on the subscriber growth momentum, in the second quarter of 2009 Koryolink introduced further reduction in connection fees as well as free SMS for the first time. Additionally, the mix of free minutes was revised to satisfy customer requirements. Such changes resulted in even more positive demand.

Throughout the second quarter, demand on Koryolink services remained strong and the subscriber base at the end of Q2 ended just short of 50K representing an increase of 149% in subscriber base compared to Q1. Koryolink subscriber base stood at 47.85 thousand by the end of Q2.

Koryolink retail network currently consists of 2 large sales shops strategically located in downtown Pyongyang with 3 additional scratch card sales outlets located within KPTC post office shops. Koryolink plans to expand the indirect sales network through the inauguration of 6 more outlets within KPTC shops. A separate after sales service shop is planned for Q3.

According to the report, at the end of the second quarter of 2009 Orascom reported that Koryolink’s mobile subscriber base reached 47,863 (this was apparently leaked earlier in the year so no surprises there), up from 19,208 three months earlier. During Q2 MOU rose to 199 per month, but ARPU fell to USD22.8, compared to USD24.7 in the first quarter of 2009.

And according to Yonhap:

Orascom reported that its operating profit from North Korea reached US$2.49 million in the April-June period, soaring about eight fold from $312,000 for the previous quarter.

Second quarter sales for Koryolink, a 75-25 percent joint venture between Orascom and North Korea, amounted to $8.01 million, with its profit margin reaching 31 percent, up substantially from the 7 percent for the previous three months, according to Orascom.

Nosotek

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

UPDATE 2: The Nosotek staff have produced a short video of the staff at work on their computers. You can see it on YouTube here.

UPDATE 1: Here is a list of Nosotek’s services and prices. Click here to read in PDF.

ORIGINAL POST: Nosotek is the first western IT joint-venture company in the DPRK. According to their web page:

In DPRK, software engineers are selected from the mathematics elite and learn programming from the ground-up, such as assembler to C+, but also Linux kernel and Visual Basic macros.

Among them, Nosotek has attracted the cream of local talent as the only company in Pyongyang offering western working conditions and Internet access.

In addition to the accessible skill level Nosotek was set-up in DPRK because IP secrecy and minimum employee churn rate are structurally guaranteed.

Nosotek sells direct access to its 50+ programmers jointly managed by western and local managers.

Services can be invoiced through a Hong Kong or Chinese company.

Benefit from North Korea’s opening, outsource to Nosotek

Our special application development service offerings include:

1. Tailor-made eBusiness solutions
2. Integrated Content Management solutions
3. Application Development
4. Research & Development
5. Special Component Based Software Development
6. Videogame Development

Interestingly, Nosotek has a YouTube channel where you can see demos of the videogames being produced in the DPRK for mobile phones. Check out their video demos here.

Here are some intereviews with the company’s directors: Volker Eloesser, Ju Jong Chol

Posted in Cell phones, Computing/IT, Economic reform, Joint Ventures, Nosotek | 4 Comments »

New papers from Johns Hopkins US-Korea Institute

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

The third edition of the SAIS U.S.-Korea Yearbook chronicles important developments in North and South Korea that characterized their relations with their allies and enemies in 2008. Each chapter was written by SAIS students in the course, “The Two Koreas: Contemporary Research and Record,” in the fall of 2008. Their insights were based not only on extensive reading and study, but also on numerous interviews conducted with government officials, scholars, NGO workers, academics and private sector experts in both Washington and Seoul.

The Yearbook is divided into two parts: South Korea’s Foreign Relations and North Korea’s Foreign Relations. In the first part, student authors explore the dynamic foreign policy changes that were brought about by the Lee Myung-bak administration, and how these policies affected South Korean politics both at home and abroad. In the second part, student authors explore how shifting power dynamics both in the United States, as well as among the member states of the Six-Party Talks, affected North Korea’s foreign relations in 2008.

Here are links to the North Korea chapters:
Chapter 6: The Torturous Dilemma: The 2008 Six-Party Talks and U.S.-DPRK Relations, by Shin Yon Kim.

Chapter 7: U.S. Alternative Diplomacy towards North Korea: Food Aid, Musical Diplomacy, and Track II Exchanges, by Erin Kruth.

Chapter 8: North Korean Human Rights and Refugee Resettlement in the United States: A Slow and Quiet Progress, by Jane Kim

The US Korea Institute has also published a New Working paper:

“State Over Society: Science and Technology Policy”
Download Here
ABSTRACT: Since the late 1990s, the Kim Jong Il regime has laid an explicit emphasis on the role of science and technology (S&T) as an instrument of national power. Facing external security challenges, domestic economic stagnation, and rising political uncertainty stemming from the succession issue, North Korea has sought greater scientific and technological development for national revival. Yet few analysts have interrogated the contours of North Korea’s S&T policy or explored its dilemmas for the regime in Pyongyang. Considered a means of modernization, S&T strikes at the heart of manifold dilemmas facing the North Korean leadership as technology poses formidable challenges to the maintenance of political control by introducing new pressures to the balance of power between state and society. In this paper, Rian Jensen, a former USKI Student Fellow, identifies the goals of North Korea’s S&T policy, outlines its mode of implementation, assesses how science and technology is recalibrating North Korean state-society relations, and identifies key policy implications for the US government.

Posted in Cell phones, Communications, Computing/IT, Emigration, Emigration statistics, Energy, Internet, Intranet, Military, Nuclear | Comments Closed

Koryolink reaching 48,000 subscribers

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

According to an article in the Choson Ilbo, Koryolink has attracted nearly 50,000 subscribers since launching. Most surprisingly, they claim that members of the Worker’s Party are not allowed to use the phones. (I am not sure if I believe that).

According to the article:

Orascom, the Egyptian telecom firm that runs it, plans to expand the service area from Pyongyang to the whole of North Korea by the end of this year, VOA said. The operator is poised to start HSPA service at the request of foreigners in North Korea who need to use wireless high-speed internet there, the report said.

Currently, officials of the North Korean Workers’ Party or the government are reportedly banned from using mobile phones for security reasons. Ordinary North Korean residents, whose monthly pay is about 4,000 North Korean won (around US$30), cannot afford the service due to the high price of handsets, which cost at US$300-500, and the subscription fee.

“We understand that mobile phones are used chiefly by foreigners, wealthy people, and trade functionaries,” a South Korean government official said.

North Korean phone users buy prepaid phone cards and can send text messages. The North started the European-style GSM service in Pyongyang and the Rajin-Sonbong special economic zone in November 2002 but suspended it after an explosion at Ryongchon Railway Station in April 2004.

Further information:

1. The Economist Intelligence Unit on Orascom (joint venture partner in Koryolink).

2. Here is a very informative older post on Koryolink. Make sure to read the information in the comment section.

3. Regarding the claim that party members are not allowed to purchase Koryolink service: In February, Martyn Williams gave us an interesting update on Koryolink–after only two weeks of sales. This story notes, “But while Koryolink’s first customers might not have high-profile official jobs, they are among the more wealthy in society and price, particularly of the handsets, stands as an obstacle to greater penetration.”

4. The previous mobile network, set up by a Thai subsidiary in 2002, is still in operation. I know that North Korean VIPs and visiting journalists have been using this network since 2002 (despite the wide media coverage of this system being closed down).

5. If this story is true, it would imply that 1 out of every 60 Pyongyang residents has a phone (assuming pop of 3 million). Additionally, if Koryolink sold 6,000 units in their first two weeks last February, they would have to sell nearly 9000 new units/month on average to reach a total of 50,000 today. Does that seem reasonable? Can anyone track down the original VOA sotry on which the Choson Ilbo story is based?

Read the full Choson Ilbo story here:
Some 50,000 N.Koreans Use Mobile Phones
Choson Ilbo
7/31/2009

Posted in Cell phones, Communications, Foreign direct investment, Orascom Telecom Holding | 4 Comments »

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