Japan's Kyodo News says North Korea has stopped renting mobile phones to foreign visitors since January.

Quoting multiple people who had visited the North, Kyodo News on Monday said that the country unofficially decided to suspend such services late last year because of a change in the communications system.

The news agency viewed that the suspension could continue for a while, noting that North Korea’s official media has yet to report on the situation in the Middle East, including the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

North Korea began mobile phone rentals for foreigners in late 2008.