Telephones - main lines in use: Telephones - mobile cellular: Telephone system: Broadcast media: Internet hosts:
1.18 million (2008)
country comparison to the world: 71
[see also: Telephones - main lines in use country ranks ]
431,900 (2010)
country comparison to the world: 167
[see also: Telephones - mobile cellular country ranks ]
general assessment: adequate system; nationwide fiber-optic network; mobile-cellular service expanding beyond Pyongyang
domestic: fiber-optic links installed down to the county level; telephone directories unavailable; GSM mobile-cellular service initiated in 2002 but suspended in 2004; Orascom Telecom Holding, an Egyptian company, launched W-CDMA mobile service on December 15, 2008 for the Pyongyang area and has expanded service to several large cities
international: country code - 850; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Russian - Indian Ocean region); other international connections through Moscow and Beijing (2009)
no independent media; radios and televisions are pre-tuned to government stations; 4 government-owned television stations; the Korean Workers' Party owns and operates the Korean Central Broadcasting Station, and the state-run Voice of Korea operates an external broadcast service; the government prohibits listening to and jams foreign broadcasts (2008)
7 (2011)
country comparison to the world: 224
[see also: Internet hosts country ranks ]