North Korea Communication Profile 2012

Telecoms Market Overview & Statistics
The development of the telecoms sector in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is seriously impeded by the country's parlous economic state and the government's general repression of communications. North Korea's obsession with secrecy has made it extremely difficult to get a clear picture of the sector. Very limited mobile services began in late 2002, but citizens were banned from using mobile phones as of May 2004. The announcement in February 2005 that the DPRK had nuclear weapons did nothing to help the flow of useful telecom technologies and expertise into the country, as the rest of the world remained wary.