On Friday, Hun Sen said he agrees with his wife and that while Cambodia is still unable to cope with pornography on the Internet, "how can we go for video phones? "Hold it. Do not yet start the mobile phone services through which the callers can see each others' images,'' he said in a speech during a visit to a Buddhist pagoda in the capital, Phnom Penh.
"
Maybe we can wait for another 10 years or so until we have done enough to strengthen the morality of our society,'' he said. Alcatel, a French telecommunications firm, announced in February that it would provide 3G mobile services to CamGSM, a Cambodian mobile phone network.
Asked Thursday about the anti-3G petition, CamGSM's owner Kith Meng said, "I don't know and don't have any comment.''
Alcatel officials in France were not immediately available for comment Friday. Hun Sen said Cambodia is facing a severe decline in social morality and that curbing pornography is one way to help rescue the country.
The third-generation mobile phone "is way too advanced for us. Hearing each other's voices and exchanging text messages should be enough. If we go further than this, it could be more difficult for us to control'' pornography, he added.
It was unclear if legislation is necessary for the ban to take effect, although Hun Sen's orders are often carried out without challenge by Cambodia's government and lawmakers.
Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist and socially conservative. People normally do not talk openly about sex. - AP
