Digitalizing Myanmar: Connectivity Developments in Political Transitions – Andrea Calderaro Finally, several armed conflicts are still ongoing in Myanmar, rendering several regions active war zones. Since the beginning of the democratization process, ceasefires have been signed, but these territories are still controlled by armed groups. Building mobile towers in rural areas consists of positioning towers on the highest peaks within those areas. In conflict regions, however, these are strategic points for military purposes, and are therefore controlled by local armed groups. This makes mobile operators unable to develop the telecom infrastructure in these regions without careful diplomatic action by the Myanmar government in the ceasefire negotiations. Government Monopoly on the Internet Infrastructure This paper has mostly addressed what has been done concerning the development of mobile infrastructure. The 4G and 3G services promised by Ooredoo and Telenor will increase mobile data transfer development and other internet services. Internet infrastructure should, however, be furthered develop in different areas. The MPT fully controls internet infrastructure. In Myanmar, there are no Internet Exchange Points (IXs). Such a function is, however, substituted by a governmentcontrolled national gateway, which keeps the data flowing domestically and keeps Myanmar independent from the Thai, Malaysian, or Chinese infrastructure, functioning de facto as an IX. As the government controls the only IX of the country, it is in the position to monitor all domestic data flows, exposing the national internet infrastructure to risks such as data filtering and digital privacy violation. New ISPs entering the broadband market will have to grapple with this situation until the government dismantles this control or new IXs are built. Under such infrastructural conditions, the internet in Myanmar cannot be considered fully secure for its citizens. At the same time, broadband capability relies on only one submarine cable serving Myanmar. In order to increase the broadband capability of the country, in March 2014 the MPT joined the SEA-ME-WE-5 consortium, which will over the next two years construct a new twenty thousand kilometer submarine cable connecting 19