Nearly 2 million North Koreans have signed up for third-generation (3G) mobile service, a U.S.-based North Korean news Web site reported Saturday.
North Korea Tech said Koryolink, the country's only 3G service provider, has almost reached 2 million subscribers. Ezz Heikal, the CEO of the company, disclosed the figure in Pyongyang earlier this week and the company's head office in Cairo, Egypt, later confirmed the number, according to the Web site.
Koryolink, a joint venture between Orascom Telecom of Egypt and the North Korean ministry of posts and telecommunications, launched the service in December 2008. The number of cellular subscribers has skyrocketed from 100,000 in September 2009 to 1 million in February last year, and then to 1.5 million in November 2012, North Korea Tech said.
North Korea has a population of roughly 24 million.
The service is said to be available in Pyongyang and 15 other major cities, along with some 100 smaller cities.
Since Jan. 7 of this year, North Korea has allowed foreign tourists to enter the country with cell phones. Koryolink originally offered these short-term visitors 3G mobile voice and data services but the service was then scaled back to only offer voice.
Koryolink is reportedly offering mobile Internet service to foreign diplomats and other long-term visitors.