the military-owned MEC and MPT distributed a finite number of SIM cards per month for about US$1.5 each under a state-run lottery. Telenor and Ooredoo introduced competition to the market in 2014 (see ICT Market). Lacking the infrastructure of MPT, their underperforming services are often the impetus for users to subscribe to multiple providers and switch SIM cards to overcome connection issues. But competition has certainly resulted in lower prices, with some companies warning the reduced revenue may threaten investments still needed to ensure quality of service for consumers. 8 With the fourth operator entering the market, competition is set to increase (see ICT Market). For data use in 2017, MPT charged MMK 6 (less than one US cent) per 1 MB under the Swe Thaha promotion, and MMK 8 per 1 MB under the new Shal Pyaw plan introduced in March 2017. 9 These rates are subject to an additional 5 percent commercial tax introduced in April 2016. A regular mobile internet user might expect to spend MMK 10,000 to 20,000 (US$10 to US$20) per month in 2017, while business customers could spend MMK 30,000 to 50,000 (US$30 to US$50). This represents little change from last year and still limits access for a large percentage of the population. There are indications of a digital divide along gender lines. According to the findings of a public-private joint workshop held in November 2016, “There is a 30 percent gender gap in mobile phone ownership, skewed to men.” 10 Women usually use phones owned by others, making them unable to reap the full potential of internet access and acquire the same digital skills as men. Restrictions on Connectivity The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) controls much of the telecommunications infrastructure via the state-owned Myanmar Post Telecommunication (MPT), though private providers are gradually diversifying ownership of the internet backbone. There were no reports of the state deliberately shutting down telecommunications services. New operators and investors described infrastructure development as their greatest challenge in 2015. 11 International institutions provided operators with loans and support to develop cable, bandwidth, and transmission towers, 12 and Telenor and Ooredoo started to develop their own fiber networks. However, heavy flooding, bureaucratic processes, and corruption often impede construction.