Egypt-based Orascom Telecom Holdings has been granted North Korea’s first commercial licence to provide mobile telephony ser vices using WCDMA (3G) technology.

Egypt-based Orascom Telecom Holdings has been granted North Korea’s first commercial licence to provide mobile telephony services using WCDMA (3G) technology. The licence has been granted to Orascom’s subsidiary CHEO Technology, in which the former holds 75 per cent stake while the remaining 25 per cent is held by the North Korean government-owned Korea Post and Telecommunications Corporation. The licence has been granted for 25 years with an exclusivity period of four years. Orascom is planning to invest up to $400 million in network infrastructure and licence fees over the first three years to deploy a high quality network offering voice, data and value-added services.