Digitalizing Myanmar: Connectivity Developments in Political Transitions – Andrea Calderaro 3) A separate regulatory authority, which should be in charge of monitoring and regulating the implementation of the telecom law, securing the efficiency of the market for investors, and guaranteeing the quality of services for citizens. A separate regulatory authority, the third step in Myanmar’s connectivity agenda, is still missing. Multiple parties are calling for this to be the key priority in facilitating a transparent telecom framework that is independent from the government and the government’s political agenda. The current major challenge in establishing an independent regulator is the lack of local competence regarding the development of a national telecom regulator. The time required to launch an independent regulator would involve a great deal of training, which would slow down the implementation of the current connectivity plan. According to the time required to develop local knowledge, the draft law anticipates that the establishment of the regulatory body will happen within two years (by 2015). As the existence of a regulatory body is imperative in securing the efficiency of other steps in the reform process, criticism is raised on the fact that the “step three” will occur far later than steps one and two. Furthermore, in the draft law, the process of establishing the regulatory body is not fully detailed, and clarifications must be further addressed. An independent regulator is critical for Myanmar, as the country’s connectivity building and policy framework is highly controlled by a government that is still working toward full accountability. This is not necessarily a threat to the Myanmar telecom framework and its subscribers, but it should be considered a serious weakness to the overall reform process. Many other challenges, however, need to be surmounted in order to further strengthen the connectivity building process in the country. 3. Next Infrastructural and Policy Challenges Though the current connectivity plan is moving forward, it is far from being finalized; several further challenges must be dealt with in the future stages of this 17