FREEDOM ON THE NET 2016 MYANMAR MPT offers this more reliable service and coverage at a premium, in violation of the state’s own pricing regulation. According to an MCIT directive, operators should not charge more than MMK 20 (US$0.01) per minute for voice calls during peak hours and MMK 15 per minute off-peak, but MPT charged MMK 50 per minute in 2015, reduced to MMK 25 per minute in 2016. Ooredoo and Telenor also charged MMK 25 per minute, according to local news reports. MPT’s prepaid service cost MMK 2 per minute for users on the GSM wireless network, and MMK 4 per minute for users of CDMA 800 and WCDMA networks. All operators offer promotional plans costing MMK 6 to 8 per 1MB of data and voice calls at MMK 20 per minute. At these rates, mobile internet service is more accessible than ever before. In September 2015, operators described the prices as among the lowest in the world given Myanmar’s recent entry into the telecommunications market.11 Senior figures within the sector accused their counterparts of sparking a price war by lowering their prices, threatening the investment still needed to ensure quality of service for consumers unsustainable.12 However, a regular mobile internet user might still expect to spend MMK 10,000 to 20,000 (US$10 to US$20) per month in 2016, while those who rely on the connection for business could spend MMK 30,000 to 50,000 (US$30 to US$50). This represents little change from last year and limits connectivity for a large percentage of the population, one quarter of which lives below poverty line.13 Restrictions on Connectivity Until 2014, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) essentially controlled the country’s infrastructure via the state-owned Myanmar Post Telecommunication (MPT), which covers over 90 percent of the country. Major operators and infrastructure investors have said that building infrastructure in Myanmar is the greatest challenge of the sector.14 International financial institutions such as the Asia Development Bank and Europe’s Infrastructure Development Fund have provided operators with loans and support to develop cable, bandwidth, and transmission towers.15 Myanmar is connected to the international internet via the SEA-ME-WE 3 submarine cable, and satellite and cross-border cable links with China and Thailand. Connections were formerly controlled by MPT, giving it a monopoly over international bandwidth, but Telenor and Ooredoo each reported having constructed three international connections to Thailand and China in 2016; Telenor said it is working on a fourth, to India.16 A spokesperson for the company rated its dependence on MPT 11 Internet Journal, September 30, 2015, http://internetjournal.media/news/4307 . Telegeography, “Price war, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing, say Myanmar cellcos,” September 28, 2015, https:// www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/09/28/price-war-what-is-it-good-for-absolutely-nothing-saymyanmar-cellcos/ . 12 13 Asian Development Bank, “Asian Development Bank & Myanmar: Fact Sheet,” December 31, 2014, http://bit.ly/1RU97j7. 14 Internet Journal, September 16, 2015, http://internetjournal.media/news/4123 . 7 Day Daily, February 9, 2016, http://7daydaily.com/story/57611 and Telegeography, “IGT secures USD122m loan for Myanmar tower rollout,” January 11, 2016, https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/01/11/igtsecures-usd122m-loan-for-myanmar-tower-rollout/ . 15 “Myanmar’s connectivity catch-up,” Frontier Myanmar, February 1, 2016, http://frontiermyanmar.net/en/news/myanmarsconnectivity-catch-up. 16 www.freedomonthenet.org