North Korea will soon allow foreigners to tweet, Skype and surf the
Internet from their cellphones, iPads and other mobile devices in its
second relaxation of controls on communications in recent weeks.
However, North Korean citizens will not have access to the mobile
Internet service to be offered by provider Koryolink within the next
week.
Koryolink, a joint venture between Korea Post &
Telecommunications Corporation and Egypt's Orascom Telecom Media and
Technology Holding SAE, informed foreign residents in Pyongyang on
Friday that it will launch a third generation, or 3G, mobile Internet
service no later than March 1.
The announcement comes just weeks
after North Korea began allowing foreigners to bring their own
cellphones into the country to use with Koryolink SIM cards, reversing a
longstanding rule requiring most visitors to relinquish their phones at
customs and leaving many without easy means of communication with the
outside world.
The two changes in policy mean foreigners in North
Korea will have unprecedented connectivity while living, working or
traveling in a country long regarded as one of the most isolated nations
in the world.
However, wireless Internet will not yet be offered
to North Koreans, who are governed by a separate set of
telecommunication rules from foreigners. North Koreans will be allowed
to access certain 3G services, including SMS and MMS messaging, video
calls and subscriptions to the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper - but
not the global Internet.
The lack of Internet access in North
Korea has put the country at the bottom of Internet freedom surveys.
Though North Korea is equipped for broadband Internet, only a small,
approved segment of the population has access to the World Wide Web.
During
a visit to Pyongyang early last month, Google's executive chairman
pressed the North Koreans to expand access to the Internet. Eric Schmidt
noted that it would be "very easy" for North Korea to offer Internet on
Koryolink's fast-expanding 3G cellphone network.
"As the world
becomes increasingly connected, the North Korean decision to be
virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world and
their economic growth," he wrote in a Jan. 20 blog post after returning
to the United States. "It will make it harder for them to catch up
economically. It is their choice now, and in my view, it's time for them
to start, or they will remain behind."
Soon after Schmidt's
visit, Google unveiled maps of North Korea with more details based on
contributions from foreigners using satellite images and publicly
available information to map the country. Before, North Korea was left
mostly blank in Google Maps but with the update, Pyongyang and major
North Korean cities are shown with street names, parks, roads, train
stops and monuments.
Cellphone use has multiplied in North Korea
since Orascom built a 3G network more than four years ago. More than a
million people are now using mobile phones in North Korea, where the
network now covers most major cities, according to Orascom.
Chinese-made
Huawei cellphones sold by Koryolink are not cheap, with the most basic
model costing about $150, and the governments restricts North Koreans
from phoning abroad or foreigners from their cellphones. Still, mobile
phones have become a must-have accessory among not only the elite in
Pyongyang but also the middle class in cities such as Kaesong and
Wonsan.
Foreigners, meanwhile, can now purchase SIM cards at the
airport or at Koryolink shops for 50 euros ($70). Calls abroad range
from 0.38 euros a minute to Switzerland and France and more than 5 euros
a minute to the U.S. Calls to South Korea remain prohibited.
Starting
next week, foreigners will be allowed to purchase monthly mobile
Internet data plans for use with a USB modem or on mobile devices using
their SIM cards. Prices for the service haven't been announced yet.
The
expansion of cellphone and Internet services - at least for foreigners -
comes as North Korea promotes the development of science and technology
as a means of improving its moribund economy.
Late leader Kim
Jong Il was revealed to have been a Mac user. His Macbook Pro, or a
replica, is enshrined at the Kumsusan mausoleum where his body lies in
state.
Current leader Kim Jong Un, meanwhile, was shown in a recent photo with a more mobile computing accessory: a smartphone.