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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/21/north-korea-foreigners-mobile-phones
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| North Korea allows foreigners in with their mobile phones | North Korea allows foreigners in with their mobile phones |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| North Korea is loosening some restrictions on foreign mobile phones by allowing visitors to bring their own into the country. However, security regulations still prohibit mobile phone calls between foreigners and locals. | North Korea is loosening some restrictions on foreign mobile phones by allowing visitors to bring their own into the country. However, security regulations still prohibit mobile phone calls between foreigners and locals. |
| For years, North Korea required visitors to relinquish foreign handsets at the border until their departure, leaving most tourists without a way to communicate with the outside world. | For years, North Korea required visitors to relinquish foreign handsets at the border until their departure, leaving most tourists without a way to communicate with the outside world. |
| The ritual of handing them over was part of an exhaustive security check that most visitors faced at North Korean immigration. Many visitors – including Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, who travelled to North Korea earlier this month – chose to leave their phones behind in Beijing before flying to Pyongyang. | The ritual of handing them over was part of an exhaustive security check that most visitors faced at North Korean immigration. Many visitors – including Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, who travelled to North Korea earlier this month – chose to leave their phones behind in Beijing before flying to Pyongyang. |
| Now, foreigners can bring qualifying phones into the country and purchase a sim card for use in North Korea, or rent a handset with a sim card that allows them to call most foreign countries, foreign embassies in Pyongyang and international hotels in the North Korean capital, according to Koryolink, the country's only official 3G mobile network provider. | Now, foreigners can bring qualifying phones into the country and purchase a sim card for use in North Korea, or rent a handset with a sim card that allows them to call most foreign countries, foreign embassies in Pyongyang and international hotels in the North Korean capital, according to Koryolink, the country's only official 3G mobile network provider. |
| However, foreigners will not be able to communicate by mobile phone with local North Koreans, whose handsets operate on a separate network, and they will not have access to the internet using locally provided sim cards. They can call Japan and the US, but not South Korea. | However, foreigners will not be able to communicate by mobile phone with local North Koreans, whose handsets operate on a separate network, and they will not have access to the internet using locally provided sim cards. They can call Japan and the US, but not South Korea. |
| Mobile phone use has multiplied in North Korea since Egyptian telecommunications firm Orascom built a 3G network in the country four years ago. More than a million people use mobile phones in the country, according to Orascom Telecom Media and Technology, which runs Koryolink as part of a joint venture with North Korea's telecommunications ministry. | Mobile phone use has multiplied in North Korea since Egyptian telecommunications firm Orascom built a 3G network in the country four years ago. More than a million people use mobile phones in the country, according to Orascom Telecom Media and Technology, which runs Koryolink as part of a joint venture with North Korea's telecommunications ministry. |
| The 3G network also provides North Koreans with access to the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper for a fee, but not to the global internet. | The 3G network also provides North Koreans with access to the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper for a fee, but not to the global internet. |
| On Friday, Koryolink saleswomen were setting up rental booths at Pyongyang's Sunan airport. One poster depicting a woman in a traditional Korean dress with a mobile phone pressed to her ear read: "Here You Can Buy Koryolink Visitor Line." | On Friday, Koryolink saleswomen were setting up rental booths at Pyongyang's Sunan airport. One poster depicting a woman in a traditional Korean dress with a mobile phone pressed to her ear read: "Here You Can Buy Koryolink Visitor Line." |
| During his recent four-day trip to North Korea, Google's Schmidt urged the country to provide its people with better access to the internet. He noted that it would be "very easy" for North Korea to offer internet on the 3G mobile phone network. | During his recent four-day trip to North Korea, Google's Schmidt urged the country to provide its people with better access to the internet. He noted that it would be "very easy" for North Korea to offer internet on the 3G mobile phone network. |
| "As the world becomes increasingly connected, the North Korean decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world and their economic growth. It will make it harder for them to catch up economically," he wrote in a Google blogpost on Sunday. | "As the world becomes increasingly connected, the North Korean decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world and their economic growth. It will make it harder for them to catch up economically," he wrote in a Google blogpost on Sunday. |
| "It is their choice now, and in my view, it's time for them to start, or they will remain behind." | "It is their choice now, and in my view, it's time for them to start, or they will remain behind." |
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