The main users of mobile communications in North Korea are government officials, businessmen and foreigners. For the rest of the country's residents, this service remains an unaffordable luxury: only a few can pay €100 for connection and another €200 for the phone itself.
As noted by Travel.ru, this is the second attempt to equip North Korean residents with mobile communications. Ordinary citizens of the DPRK have been banned from using mobile phones since 2004, which, however, remained with many members of the elite, as well as some employees of foreign organizations accredited in the country.
Nevertheless, some North Korean residents illegally smuggled mobile phones from China and used them in border areas where the coverage area of Chinese cellular networks remains. In the summer of 2007, North Korea toughened punishment for those illegally using mobile communications – up to the death penalty.