Burma - Telecom

The big change in Myanmar’s telecom sector has been in 2013 with the entry of two foreign operators in the local mobile market, joining the former monopoly operator, Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT), Buoyed by the success of the arrival of Qatar’s Ooredoo and Norway’s Telenor.

The first internet connections were established back in 2000, internet services in Myanmar still remain slow and unstable. The fixed broadband market remains highly underdeveloped, mainly due to the dominance of the mobile platform and unwillingness by operators to invest in fixed broadband infrastructure. Penetration stood at just 0.5% in 2016 and is predicted to increase at a slow rate during the five years to 2021.

 The leading operators in Myanmar have quickly adapted to upgrading their networks to handle increasing demand for data services and the roll out of 3G and 4G services. Ooredoo claims 500,000 4G users since the launch of services in May, with 4G coverage available to 4.6 million people. Telenor launched 4G services in the capital city (Nay Pyi Taw) in July and is trialling 4G in several cities.

Fixed line telephone penetration remains very low at just under 1% and has been gradually declining since 2014 due to the dominance and maturity of the mobile market. Penetration decreased from 1.00% in 2013 to 0.96% in 2016.

Mynanmar’s mobile market has experienced very strong growth from 2013 to 2016. Penetration has risen from 7% in 2013 to 85% by 2016, by which time the market reached 46 million subscribers. Further strong growth is also predicted over the next five years to 2021. By 2018 the market is expected to reach mobile penetration of over 90%.

Mobile broadband has experienced very strong growth, driven by high rapid growth in the mobile sector. Penetration has increased from 15% in 2014, to 26% in 2015 and 35% in 2016. Strong growth is predicted over the next five years however at a slower rate.

In April 2016,  68 licenses were issued for telecoms services. This list comprised 34 nationwide licenses, 13 network services and 19 application service licenses.

International internet bandwidth continues to grow strongly reaching 43,400 Mb/s in 2015 and 53,000Mb/s in 2016.

In April 2016 Vietnamese military-owned group Viettel announced its plans for its operations in Myanmar in securing the nation’s fourth mobile licence. It expects to spend USD1.5 billion on the construction of a 3G network using the 900MHz and 2100MHz bands, with coverage due to reach 95% of the population within three years. It will also introduce 1800MHz LTE services if the government opts to license the additional spectrum.

Fixed Telephone Lines