before it can be reclassified for other uses. This slows the process considerably, and increases the opportunity for officials to ask for bribes as the requests move through various levels of bureaucracy. Tower companies have been helping landowners to get the land reclassified from paddy land to grant land 498 so that it can then be leased out. Some of the land used for towers is farmland (other than paddy land) which also requires a conversion process to change the designation, but this can be done at the state level. Even in urban areas, the lack of proper land documentation is causing delays. Companies and authorities are also confused about what documents are needed to change land registration status and to register long term leases, resulting in delays. . The companies laying fibre/cable are digging trenches, laying fibre/cable, then covering the trenches. As such, they are not entering into lease arrangements but instead may be making a one-time payment for the disturbance of the land, usually without further formal arrangements. Several tower companies have joined together to highlight identified bottlenecks in the current processes to use of farmland for the placement of towers, the registration of leases and the use of Government land, and have proposed several solutions to the authorities to expedite the process. World Bank Guidance for Land Use by the Telecommunications Sector The World Bank is currently financing and implementing a $31.5 million telecommunications sector reform project in Myanmar that includes a programme to extend coverage in selected remote pilot locations that are commercially non-viable for operators to service without a one-time subsidy and are not part of the networks being rolled out by the licensed operators. 499 It has a set of environmental and social safeguard policies 500 that apply to most World Bank projects and that are applicable to this telecommunications sector reform project. As part of the environmental and social management framework (ESMF) 501 for the project, the World Bank developed a set of land lease guidelines for the roll out of pilot telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas 502 . All sites where telecommunication masts/ towers will be installed to extend connectivity will be selected and managed in line with the ESMF. As the ESMF notes “[r]ecognising that land markets are poorly developed and there are few or no experiences with land leasing arrangements for telecommunications towers and masts in Myanmar, principles for such arrangements have been developed under this ESMF” because “tenure rights are rapidly evolving in rural Myanmar”. The Guidance notes that because land tenure is not fully established in rural Myanmar and rural 498 Grant land is “Owned and allocated by the state, grant land is common in cities and towns, but rare in village areas. The state may lease grant land out for extendable periods of ten, thirty, or ninety years. Grant land is transferable, is subject to land tax and may be reacquired by the state during a lease period in accordance with laws governing compulsory acquisition.” USAID, “Property Rights and Resource Governance: Burma” (date unknown) pg. 10-11. 499 World Bank, Telecommunications Sector Reform Project (last accessed August 2015). 500 World Bank, “Consultations on the Second Draft of Environmental and Social Framework” (1 July 2015). 501 Myanmar - Telecommunications Sector Reform Project: environmental and social management framework (2013). The Environmental and Social Management Framework describes the baseline project environmental conditions and impact, provides guidance for environmental and social assessment processes. 502 World Bank, “Myanmar - Telecommunications Sector Reform Project: environmental and social management framework (Vol. 2): Land lease guidelines” (English) (2013). CHAPTER 4.7: LAND 211 4 4.7