FREEDOM
ON THE NET
2016
MYANMAR
at 10 percent in an interview with Frontier Myanmar, though Ooredoo declined to make a similar
estimate.17
In early 2016, the Singapore-based cable company Campana Group announced plans to develop the
Myanmar-Malaysia-Thailand-International Connection (MYTHIC) cable, Myanmar’s first private undersea internet cable, which it said would provide an extra 300 Gigabits a second of bandwidth once
it becomes operational in 2017.18 As part of a first 100-Day Plan, the new Ministry of Transport and
Communications also announced construction of onshore link to the undersea cable SEA-ME-WE 5
to be operational by early 2017.19
Since the two foreign telecom firms started to develop their own fiber networks in March 2015, capacity has increased. Low bandwidth continues to cause congestion, however, and power outages
also frequently disrupt access.20 Heavy flooding in several regions of the country, bureaucratic processes, and corruption often impede construction.
ICT Market
Despite diversification, state-owned conglomerates continue to skew the telecommunications
playing field through the state-owned Myanmar Post Telecommunication (MPT), and a new military-linked joint venture. Long-promised plans to privatize MPT have not materialized since the government announced them in 2012.
In 2013, the government awarded international licenses to Norway’s Telenor and Qatar’s Ooredoo,
allowing them to offer services and infrastructure alongside MPT.21 Military-linked Yatanarpon Teleport (YTP) was also allowed to run as a local operator.
Between June 2015 and April 2016, in a maneuver that allegedly advantaged the military’s financial
interests, the outgoing ministry selected the Vietnamese company Viettel,22 which is run by the
Vietnamese military,23 to operate a 49 percent stake in a fourth mobile telecommunication operator
as part of a joint venture with a consortium of 11 local firms and a government shareholder.24 The
consortium and the government shareholder, Star High Public Company under the supervision of
the Ministry of Defense, will control 51 percent of the operation, which was expected to apply for a
license in late 2016 and begin providing service in 2017.25
“Myanmar’s connectivity catch-up,” Frontier Myanmar, February 1, 2016, http://frontiermyanmar.net/en/news/myanmarsconnectivity-catch-up.
17
“Myanmar’s connectivity catch-up,” Frontier Myanmar, February 1, 2016, http://frontiermyanmar.net/en/news/myanmarsconnectivity-catch-up .
18
19
Internet Journal, May 31, 2016, http://internetjournal.media/news/6511 .
Kyaw Hsu Mon, “Power Chief Pledges End to Rangoon Outages,” The Irrawaddy, April 8, 2015, http://www.irrawaddy.org/
burma/power-chief-pledges-end-to-rangoon-outages.html.
20
21 Shibani Mahtani and Chun Han Wong, “Norway’s Telenor, Qatar Telecom Get Myanmar Telecom Licenses,” Wall Street
Journal, June 27, 2013.
Telegeography, ���Myanmar selects Viettel to partner for fourth licence,”March 29, 2016, https://www.telegeography.com/
products/commsupdate/articles/2016/03/29/myanmar-selects-viettel-to-partner-for-fourth-licence/ ;
22
Reuters, “Viettel plans $1.5 billion Myanmar telecoms investment with local firms,” April 18, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/
article/viettel-myanmar-telecoms-idUSL3N17L3DR .
23
Republic of the Union of Myanmar, “Results of the Request for Proposal for Partnership with local Consortium
willing to apply for Fourth Telecom Operator Licence in the Republic of the
Union of Myanmar,” press release, March 25, 2016, http://bit.ly/2fBTGju.
24
Aung Kyaw Nyunt and Steve Gilmore, “Fourth telco licence just weeks away,” Myanmar Times, October 4, 2016, http://www.
mmtimes.com/index.php/business/technology/22882-fourth-telco-licence-just-weeks-away.html .
25
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