Exchange rates:

North Korean won (KPW) per US dollar (market rate) 1,800 (December 2010), 3,630 (December 2008), 140 (2007), 141 (2006)

Communications ::Korea, North

Telephones - main lines in use:

1.18 million (2008) country comparison to the world: 70

Telephone system:

general assessment: adequate system; nationwide fiber-optic network; mobile-cellular service expanding beyond Pyongyang

domestic: fiber-optic links installed down to the county level; telephone directories unavailable; mobile-cellular service, initiated in 2002, suspended in 2004; Orascom Telecom, an Egyptian company, launched mobile service on December 15, 2008 for the Pyongyang area with plans to expand nationwide

international: country code - 850; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Russian - Indian Ocean region); other international connections through Moscow and Beijing (2009)

Broadcast media: