Digitalizing Myanmar: Connectivity Developments in Political Transitions – Andrea Calderaro 1. Licensing: Defining the process to be applied for each licensing category and identifying its criteria; 2. Access and interconnection: Setting the rules ensuring liberal and free networked connectivity and facilitating access to infrastructure and services; 3. Spectrum: Describing the criteria for the management and assignment of radio spectrum, including a variety of service such as mobile voices, broadband, and WiFi; 4. Numbering: Defining the criteria for the allocation of numbering according to area and operators; 5. Competition: Setting the rules of the internal market competition. Most stakeholders responded positively to the proposed version of the telecom law. Some, however, have pointed out concerns, including the role paid by the World Bank. In a document signed by sixty-one civil society organizations, the World Bank was criticized for having failed to secure the rights of freedom of expression and digital privacy before the telecom reform launch.22 The document cites the World Bank’s leading role in telecom development in Myanmar, calling on the World Bank to first secure digital privacy, regulate data retention, and secure the internet infrastructure before developing Myanmar’s telecom sector. Overall, given the variety of actors involved in Myanmar’s connectivity reform plan, reactions to the telecom law are understandably diverse. Amongst the private companies that submitted comments, recommendations differ depending on whether the company is an international mobile operator, such as Ooeredo and Telenor, or a hardware supplier, such as mobile towers suppliers. In particular, while mobile operators primarily commented on the licensing procedure and the management of their services, mobile tower supply companies 22 “Civil Society Comments to World Bank Telecom Sector Reform Project in Burma.” Available at: http://uscampaignforburma.org/images/Civil_Society_Comment_on_the_World_Bank_Telecom_Secto r_Reform_Project_in_Burma.pdf 13