Secretive North Korea has seen a sharp rise in mobile phone use, with more than 800,000 subscribers as of the end of September, according to the Egyptian company which provides the service. Orascom Telecom said the figure represents a 169 percent increase year-on-year.
The company, in a quarterly earnings report seen on its website on November 16, said its network now covers areas where 94 percent of the population live. Communist North Korea strictly controls access to outside information by its 24 million people and fixes the tuning controls of radios and televisions to official stations.
Seoul-based activists say it is difficult for registered users to make or receive overseas calls because of limited service and tight oversight. The North clamps down on unauthorised use of mobile phones smuggled from China and used in border areas.