4 Comments

1. 

   Neel GInasinghe

   December 21, 2011, 9:39 am

   Dear Prof Samarajiva,

   I read this about North Korea.
   “…A nation that doesn’t apparently have a mobile operator or access to internet but crucially has nuclear power. Interesting. Its always nice to read about North Korea. ”

   Is this true about mobile access and Internet in North Korea?

   1. 

      Rohan Samarajiva

      December 21, 2011, 10:09 am

      The ITU is the authoritative source of telecom data. According to the ITU DPR Korea had 431,919 mobile connections at end 2010 (1.77 mobile SIMs/100 people). News reports indicate they will hit a million by year end 2011. It had, at end 2010, higher mobile penetration than St Helena and Myanmar.

      N Korea started with 3G. The operator is Orascom of Egypt.

      The ITU reports no Internet data from DPR Korea. That does not mean there is no Internet use within government. But use among the public is likely to be minimal to none.

2. 

   Neel GInasinghe

   December 21, 2011, 10:32 am

   Prof,

   Is there any country with no mobile and no internet?

3. 

   Rohan Samarajiva

   December 21, 2011, 12:17 pm

   I’ve just come back from Myanmar. They have both (but not in adequate quantity).

   St Helena (pop 5,000 ish; claim to fame: prison of Napoleon) may be your best bet.