North Korea allows tourists to rent phones or SIM cards, but doesn’t include internet

North Korea allows tourists to rent phones or SIM cards, but doesn't include internet

North Korea (which recently added Google's Eric Schmidt to its guest book) will begin loosening its restrictions on foreign cellphones, allowing any arrivals to either pick up a rental phone or SIM card from service provider Koryolink. With a rental booth already set up in Pyongyang airport, you'll be able to dial out to numbers abroad, foreign embassies and international hotels. However, the SIMs (priced at around $67) won't allow you to call locals, nor will they offer any internet data -- not even EDGE. Apparently, providing data to the rental SIMs in North Korea wouldn't be a technical issue, but is dependent on whether it's granted approval by the DPRK government.

Image credit: Wikipedia Creative Commons

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Via: The Verge

Source: AP (The Guardian), Xinhua

iPhoneTrip SIM rental review: the best way to keep your smartphone connected while abroad

iPhoneTrip SIM rental review the best way to keep your smartphone connected while abroad

In the seemingly unending quest to remain connected while traveling abroad, we recently decided to try yet another option when departing the US for a lengthy amount of time: iPhoneTrip. In a way, it sounds like the perfect solution. A single rental SIM, mailed to your address anywhere in the world, that you don't even have to return when you're done. There are claims of supporting "200+ countries," and if you don't have a smartphone or mobile hotspot at the ready, the company will rent you one of those, too. Of course, we've long since learned to take grandiose claims with an adequate amount of salt. Care to see how iPhoneTrip's rental SIM service stacks up against similar alternatives from Tep Wireless and XCom Global? Read on.

Continue reading iPhoneTrip SIM rental review: the best way to keep your smartphone connected while abroad

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