Digitalizing Myanmar: Connectivity Developments in Political Transitions – Andrea Calderaro Figure 1 - Timeline of the Telecom Developments in Myanmar Figure 1 outlines the phases of the connectivity plan and telecom reform. From January 2012 to July 2012, before launching the international competition and assigning licenses, the Myanmar government set the bidding rules and designed the call for tenders. The international competition was launched in August 2012, and mobile operators were able to submit their proposals until January 25, 2013. In June 2013, the government announced the outcome of the competition and awarded licenses to two companies. Due to the lack of a national telecom law, however, mobile operators did not actually receive their licenses and were unable to operate in the country until the law was released. While drafting of the telecom law began in June 2013, a draft version of the law was only released for public consultation in November 2013. It was not until January 2014 that the government assigned the licenses, and operators started work in Myanmar. The stages of connectivity building in Myanmar are clustered and described according to the following three-step approach influenced by three complementary yet parallel initiatives launched by the Myanmar government: 1) Licensing: A public and open international competition for the assignment and release of telecom licensees; 4