systems and is drafting a Telecommunications Law, sometimes called the ‘cyber laws’, to regulate the use of telecommunications equipment and services, and to replace the outdated Myanmar Telegraph Act of 1885. Under the 1989 State-Owned Economic Enterprise Law, part of the ‘Open Door’ policy, telecommunication facilities and services were the sole right of the government, but government-private sector joint ventures were permitted. The Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs with the assistance of the Office of Attorney General, e-National Task Force, and ICT specialists completed work on an initial draft in late August 2004. Other laws which impact the telecom sector are the Computer Science Development Law enacted in 1996 and the Electronic Transaction Law which took effect in April 2004. To date, the junta has been more successful in regulating people than telecom, which remains rudimentary with less than 500,000 fixed lines, less than 200,000 cellular users, and less than 80,000 Internet users out of a population of over 47 million.21 Since 1999 Internet access has been severely restricted in Myanmar, 22 and it is illegal to possess or use a fax machine without a permit. In the most draconian measure, unauthorized ownership of a fax modem or setting up a computer network without the telecom ministry's approval risks seven to 15 years imprisonment and a fine, according to the 1996 Computer Science Development Law. The Law also banned acts carried out by means of computer technology that negatively affected the stability and peace of the state or the national culture. Following the ‘Open Door’ Policy the MPT drew up a Master Plan 1990-2010, and although networks have expanded by over 400 per cent since 1990, Myanmar simply does not have the funds to maintain a high growth rate.23 According to the MPT’s website, visited April 2005, in 2001 there were 273,000 direct exchange lines or just 0.6 fixed lines per 100 population, mostly in Yangon and Mandalay and even there penetration rates were only 3.6 per cent and 2.4 per cent. Two-thirds are digital exchange lines, but nearly 20 per cent remain manual. Wireless systems consist of mobile cellular and wireless local loop (WLL). A GSM system, supplied by Siemens (Germany) and built by ZTE (China) in 2002, operates 35,000 lines in Yangon and 8,000 in Mandalay. A CDMA system, supplied by Singapore-based UCOM International (Thailand) and LG Electronics (South Korea) in 1997, operates 32,000 lines, over 90 per cent in Yangon. A WLL network of 15,000 lines based upon the European DECT (Digital Electronic Cordless Telephone) standard, supplied by InterDigital (USA) and installed in 1996-97, provides access to eight towns in addition to Yangon and Mandalay. A 1993 analogue AMPS system offers 4,500 lines, half of which have been redeployed to serve seven smaller mining and tourist towns. Counting WLL as a fixed line service, by 2002 Myanmar still had four times as many fixed as mobile lines. Licensing 21 The World Factbook: Burma, CIA, 15 March 2007 In 2003, an Internet application licence cost something like US$2,500. (Asia Computer Weekly, 24 February 2003) 23 Myanmar is starting from a very low base. In 1988, the country had only 67,016 phones. 22