(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Cambodia's leading mobile operator has launched 3G services after agreeing to drop a video phone feature that the government feared would be used to spread pornographic images, officials said.
So Khun, the Minister of Telecommunications, said the government has allowed MobiTel, a company partly owned by Cambodian businessman Kith Meng, to introduce a 3G network 'but minus video phone.'
In May, Prime Minister Hun Sen, heeding a request from his wife Bun Rany, ordered the ban of video phone service planned by MobiTel for fear that it could disseminate pornography among users.
David Spriggs, the general manager of MobiTel, said his company began introducing 3G mobile services Friday, making it the first in Cambodia. The company currently has more than 1 million mobile phone users.
'If and when the government changes its position, we will be able offer video phone,' he said.
The current service package has two main features: high-speed Internet access and television broadcast from three local stations. Spriggs said it is available at a flat fee of $40 a month for unlimited access to Internet and television broadcast, but users still have to pay $0.08 a minute for calls.
Spriggs said he didn't see the effectiveness of the government's ban on a video phone service since the new service allowed unlimited Internet access, where pornography Web sites were easily accessible.
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