5/22/22, 12:03 AM Myanmar: Freedom on the Net 2021 Country Report | Freedom House predicting a total financial loss, but said at the time that it would operate as long as it could still “contribute positively.” 64 Deregulation in 2013 removed many of the legal and regulatory barriers to entry for internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile service providers, leading to a proliferation in the number of licenses awarded. At least 207 telecommunications licenses had been awarded by 2020. 65 The 2017 award of a telecommunications license to the military-owned operator Mytel, and the comparative scale of Mytel’s investment since launching in 2018, undermined the diversity of providers and reasserted the state’s dominance over the telecommunications market. Independent media outlets have reported that Mytel provides the military with massive profits. 66 Mytel is jointly owned by the Vietnamese military-controlled company Viettel, a consortium of local firms, and Star High Public Company, which is owned by the Myanmar military’s Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). 67 Mytel operates using the telecommunications infrastructure owned by MECTel, which is also owned by MEC. 68 MEC was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department between 2008 and 2016 for its role in human rights violations committed by Myanmar’s military. 69 In 2018, the European Union considered imposing sanctions on Mytel in response to the military’s human rights abuses in Rakhine, Shan, and Kachin States. 70 Since the coup, many activists have called for a boycott of Mytel due to the company’s connections with the military and its human rights violations. 71 Mytel launched its 4G-only service in February 2018, 72 and had reportedly reached 10 million subscribers by 2020. 73 It joined three other mobile service providers in Myanmar, all of which are owned by the Myanmar government or foreign governments. 74 During the coverage period, two foreign mobile service providers, Telenor and Ooredoo, had 22 and 10 million subscribers, 75 respectively, and a third provider, the state-owned MPT, had roughly 24 million subscribers. 76 Other providers that have received telecommunications licenses include a mixture of national and local fixedline and mobile services. For example, Amara Communications, owned by a large domestic conglomerate, launched in May 2018 and provides a data-only service using wireless broadband boxes, including in Yangon, where it had already installed 300 towers by March 2018. 77 The Global Technology Group launched wireless broadband in 30 cities beginning in May 2018. 78 Before the coup, the administration of licenses was generally regarded as fair and transparent, and external efforts to influence decisions were largely rebuffed. 79 However, in 2020 the government reportedly threatened to cancel licenses unless their holders complied with demands to block websites, including news outlets (see B1). 80 Telecommunications providers have raised concerns about restrictions on building new towers, 81 and local government officials have stressed the need for providers to obtain permits to lay fiber-optic cables, build towers, and install Wi-Fi devices. 82 A5 0-4 pts Do national regulatory bodies that oversee service providers and digital technology fail to operate in a free, fair, and independent manner? 0/4 TOP Score Change: The score declined from 1 to 0 because regulatory bodies retain no independence following their takeover by military forces as part of the February 2021 coup. https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2021 7/28