The number of mobile phone subscribers in North Korea is estimated to have topped 90-thousand.

The Egyptian firm Orascom Telecom says there were 91-thousand-800 cell phone subscribers in the North as of late last year. Given that the figure stood at 70-thousand in September and 80-thousand in November, mobile phone use appears to be surging in the communist state.

Orascom launched third-generation mobile services in December 2008 through a joint investment with Pyongyang. It signed an exclusive four-year contract to do business in the North. A prepaid card is required to use a mobile phone in North Korea.

North Korea's population is believed to be around 23 million.