maintenance)
Source: MCIT, KOICA, ETRI, “The Follow-Up Project of the Myanmar ICT Master Plan,” (2011)
The Telecommunications Master Plan
On 14 May 2015, MCIT hosted an initial consultation on “Creating a Master Plan for
Myanmar Telecommunications” in Nay Pyi Taw. The proposed Master Plan outline
covered rural and regional development, roles and responsibilities of MCIT, PTD, other
Government bodies and MPT and other operators, as well as key topics forming a
‘reference framework’, including Net Neutrality (the principle of treating Internet traffic and
content delivery in a neutral manner, without throttling or preferentially accelerating
access), universal service, and privacy and security.
Table 7: Proposed Vision of the 2015 Draft Telecommunications Master Plan, as of
August 2015
The draft Master Plan sets out three broad goals:
to create a Myanmar national broadband infrastructure with affordable services
to deliver communications content and services for the Myanmar people in a rightsrespecting, mobile-first system
to develop an institutional and policy framework for effective oversight
Source: Draft Telecommunications Master Plan 2015
In late July 2015, a draft Telecommunications Master Plan was published for public
consultation through 7 August 2015 (Table 7). 78 Several organisations, including the
Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), MIDO and Access (a US based
digital rights organisation), provided comments on the draft Masterplan. 79 Both MCRB
and Access called for:
A commitment not to shut down communications networks, as the Myanmar
Government did in 2007 (See Chapter 4.1 on Freedom of Expression)
The release of ‘transparency reports’ by Myanmar’s regulatory bodies to provide the
public with information about Government access to user data (See 4.4 on
Surveillance) and by telecommunication companies (noting that Telenor has already
done this)
A data protection system that informs and protects users, while also encouraging
innovation (See Chapter 4.5 on Cybersecurity)
A lawful intercept framework including access to remedy (see the Annex to the
Recommendations)
A commitment to Net Neutrality, which is fundamental to ensure that the Internet
remains a platform for the enjoyment of human rights and innovation
78
Myanmar Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, “Draft Telecommunications Masterplan”
(8 July 2015).
79 MCRB, “Comments on the draft Myanmar Telecommunications Master Plan” (30 July 2015).
CHAPTER 2:
ICT GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS, POLICIES & LEGAL FRAMEWORK
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