Page last updated on February 3, 2014

Telephones - main lines in use:
1.18 million (2011)
country comparison to the world: 70
[see also: Telephones - main lines in use country ranks ]

Telephones - mobile cellular:
1.7 million (2012)
country comparison to the world: 148
[see also: Telephones - mobile cellular country ranks ]

Telephone system:
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 15 December 2008 for the Pyongyang area, has expanded service to several large cities and now has a 1-million-person subscriber base
international: country code - 850; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Russian - Indian Ocean region); other international connections through Moscow and Beijing (2011)

Broadcast media:
no independent media; radios and TVs are pre-tuned to government stations; 4 government-owned TV 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)

Internet country code:
.kp

Internet hosts:
8 (2012)
country comparison to the world: 226
[see also: Internet hosts country ranks ]