May 31, 2005
Why North Korea Is Prohibiting Mobile Phones
According to a source reported by English Donga, “Frequency blocking device installation operations are taking place in cities that share borders with China such as Shinuiju, and mobile phone services will be resumed in the North after this construction is over.”
It seems the decisive factor that made North Korea install frequency blocking devices is the Ryongchon train explosion.
At the time, the Ryongchon train explosion was made known to the outside world immediately after the accident occurred. Though Chinese mobile phones that had been smuggled into North Korea could not be directly connected with Ryongchon, North Korean mobile phones could be used to call any area in North Korea from places like Dandong in China
It is highly likely that the first person to report the train explosion to the outside world was a North Korean mobile phone user in Dandong.
North Korea began telecommunications services in August 2002, and had nearly 30,000 subscribers with a telecommunications network in its major cities in April last year at the time of the accident.
When the North finishes installing the jamming devices, covert use of Chinese mobile phones in North Korea-China border areas will also be blocked.
Because the two nations both use the European GSM standard, North Korea will be able to send blocking waves that fit Chinese mobile phone frequencies."
Related articles:
-- North Korea is fighting a losing battle
-- Will cell phones crack North Korea's totalitarian regime?
-- North Korea: Chinese cellphones spawn an information boom
-- New agent of change in N. Korea: cellphones
-- North Korean authorities and cellphones
-- North Korea bans mobile phones
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