Actually, we can safely say, 310,000 mobile customers in North Korea, because it is highly unlikely that anyone other than the King or the heir apparent hold more than one SIM in the hermit kingdom. The NYT does not report whether the subscribers were just talking or doing more than voice. The license to Orascom was, after all, for 3G.
Signs of that relative good fortune were evident on Pyongyang’s streets. Some pedestrians chatted on cellphones, something unknown just two years ago. Koryolink, a cellphone network controlled by an Egyptian firm, has 310,000 North Korean subscribers. North Koreans can call only one another, but the network is expanding fast. Residents report more cars and traffic lights than three years ago, although traffic remains sparse.
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