Photo taken on Dec. 15, 2008 shows the inauguration ceremony of the 3G mobile communication service in Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). DPRK launched 3G mobile communication service in Pyongyang on Monday.

Photo taken on Dec. 15, 2008 shows the inauguration ceremony of the 3G mobile communication service in Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). DPRK launched 3G mobile communication service in Pyongyang on Monday.

PYONGYANG, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched a third-generation (3G) mobile phone service on Monday.

The 3G cellphone service provides subscribers with services of voice calling, SMS, call conference, voice mail and interactive voice response.

The service will operate only in Pyongyang in the initial phase of the project and its subscriber capacity is now 126,000.

The service will be provided by Koryo Link, a joint venture of the state-owned Korea Post and Telecommunications Corp (KPTC) and Egypt's Orascom Telecom, which currently operates GSM networks in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.