Orascom Telecom’s mobile subscriber base in North Korea has grown by 63 percent in just three months, according to the company’s newly-released third-quarter financial results. Local operator Koryolink, in which Orascom holds a 75 percent stake, has increased its base from 184,000 to more than 301,000 in the three months to the end of September. The operator is now drawing more customers from outside the capital of Pyongyang with the rest of the country accounting for 50 percent of gross additions in the latest quarter. The company says this strategy involved tariffs and products targeted at “lower end” subscribers. North Korea’s GDP per capita is only US$1,900 a year.

Orascom also reports that video calling on Koryolink’s 3G network is gaining in popularity. The company said the new service “resulted in a high level of demand, especially from the youth segment.” Less encouraging was an unfortunate side effect of Koryolink’s strong subscriber growth and targeting of low-end users: ARPU dropped by 30 percent to US$15.2 (quarterly rather than monthly figure). Network coverage has spread rapidly during the third quarter from 60 percent to 75 percent of the country’s population. The aim is to reach more than 90 percent coverage by the end of the year. Most of the additional network built in the latest quarter  was outside the country’s major cities where Koryolink already has a presence. Only one major city was added in the third quarter to bring the total with network coverage to 13. In addition, 42 smaller cities have coverage as do 22 highways and railways. Revenue at the unit in the quarter was US$42 million, up from US$18 million in the same period last year. EBITDA grew to US$26 million compared to US$10 million in 2009.