North Korea - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

North Korea - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

North Korea’s mobile services to fall under total state control following Koryolink’s demise Egyptian mobile operator Orascom was the private sector partner with government-owned North Korea Post and Telecommunication Company (NKPTC) that set up the country’s 3G mobile network, Koryolink, in 2008 following the demise of the Sunnet GSM service that same year. Koryolink’s 25-year license gave it exclusive rights for the first four years along with a block on any foreign investors from entering the market for a further three years. Orascom reportedly invested the hefty sum of $400 million to build infrastructure in Pyongyang and a few other major cities, however the high cost of handsets (designed and built in North Korea to allow the government to have full access to all of the communications going through the devices) meant that only the most wealthy (or privileged) could afford to subscribe. Mobile penetration, as a result, has only been able to reach 19%. Nevertheless, Orascom was able to produce a reasonably healthy return from its venture – or at least it did so on paper. In 2012 (the last year of its monopoly period), Koryolink generated around $360 million in profit. Unfortunately for the majority shareholder, the North Korean government prevented Orascom from repatriating its share of the profit for the full value. Desperately in need of foreign exchange as international sanctions started to bite, the government demanded Orascom to repatriate profits at the unofficial (black market) exchange rate – roughly worth about one-hundredth of the actual amount. The Orascom holding company in Egypt announced in November 2021 that it had, in effect, given up on North Korea and had written off its share of Koryolink in its stock market filing. Negotiations are continuing for Koryolink to become merged with one of the other state-owned mobile operators (Byol), but the final outcome inevitably involves all of North Korea’s mobile services moving under state control.