North Korea's Korean Central News Agency said Monday that the country has launched third generation mobile communications services through Egyptian-based Orascom Telecom.

3G mobile services normally support calls, text messaging services and video transfers, but the North Korean version only supports phone calls.

Pyongyang held a ceremony Monday to mark the launch attended by government officials, foreign ambassadors and Orascom Telecom Chairman and CEO Naguib Sawiris.

North Korea first launched mobile services in late 2002 but completely banned cell phone use in June 2004 following a huge train explosion in the town of Ryongchon in April of the same year.

Foreign observers at the time believed that Pyongyang suspected the use of cell phones in the leaking of internal North Korean information and the detonation of the explosives at Ryongchon.