• Burmese
Thursday, June 19, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

Telenor, Ooredoo Win Burma’s Coveted Telcoms Licenses

Simon Roughneen by Simon Roughneen
June 27, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Telenor

Norway’s Telenor was one of two foreign telecommunications firms to be awarded 15-year mobile network licenses in Burma on Thursday. (Photo: Telenor)

17.7k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Norway’s Telenor and Qatar’s Ooredoo have been awarded two 15-year mobile network licenses in Burma, fending off challenges from nine rival bids that included some of the world’s biggest telecoms providers.

The long-anticipated announcement could see Burma’s mobile phone usage jump from less than 10 percent, according to current estimates, to covering around three-fourths of the population within three to four years, if government aspirations for the sector are realized.

Prior to Thursday’s announcement, Ooredoo—backed by the energy-rich pockets of the Qatari emirate—said it would provide 3G coverage to 90 percent of Burma’s population within two years, based on a proposed investment of US$15 billion, while Telenor, the world’s 14th biggest mobile company by subscriber numbers, said after Thursday’s announcement that it “plans to achieve nationwide coverage in Myanmar within five years.”

RelatedPosts

China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

June 17, 2025
1.6k
Social Media and Street Protests: Myanmar’s Pushback Against Chinese Influence

Social Media and Street Protests: Myanmar’s Pushback Against Chinese Influence

April 17, 2025
1.5k
Examining the Role of Private Security Firms in Chinese Force Projection

Examining the Role of Private Security Firms in Chinese Force Projection

April 3, 2025
1.7k

“The successful applicants must fulfill post-selection requirements. The Parliament will also try to adopt a telecommunications law very soon,” President’s Office spokesman Ye Htut told The Irrawaddy, shortly after posting the announcement of the license winners on his Facebook page at 5pm Thursday.

The government listed the French-Japanese Orange-Marubeni consortium as the back-up candidate “in the event that one of the two successful applicants does not fulfill the post-selection requirements contained in the invitation to tender.”

Dr Aung Thura, CEO of Thura Swiss, a Rangoon consultancy, told The Irrawaddy that while Telenor’s win was not a bombshell, given that the company had been touted as a leading contender in the weeks leading up to the announcement, “Ooredoo had not been mentioned as a likely winner, so that is a real surprise.”

The news comes as the culmination of a drawn-out tender process followed by will-they-won’t-they last minute drama in which Burma’s Parliament voted on Wednesday to delay the scheduled June 27 announcement, citing the need to first pass the still-in-progress telecoms bill, but prompting whispers that the gambit was an attempt to buy time on behalf of the Army-run Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), allowing the company to sell more of its new $1.50 SIM cards before well-heeled and aggressive foreign competitors entered the fray.

In the end, however, the government overruled the legislature’s objections, saying afterwards that the announcement would go ahead as scheduled. The news marked a double-blow for the attempted postponement, given that in MP Myo Swe’s proposal to Parliament on Wednesday, lawmakers suggested that only foreign companies with a local joint-venture partner should get the telecommunications licenses.

Aung Thura said that the last-minute run by MPs to postpone the announcement came across as amateurish. “If they had concerns about the process, they could have raised these weeks ago, rather than the day before the licenses are to be awarded.”

The two winners—one European, one Gulf-based—are notable for not having a local partner, unlike several of the other bids in the running, which featured the likes of Burmese businessman Serge Pun, and local companies such as Kanbawza Bank and A1 Construction.

Asian multinational telecoms companies such as India’s Airtel, the world’s third biggest mobile operator, and Singapore’s Singtel, the fourth biggest, failed to win one of the two licenses, after speculation that at least one Asian winner would emerge. Ninety companies had initially expressed an interest in setting-up a mobile network in Burma, where over 90 percent of the estimated 60 million population do not own phones or sim cards—offering a possible goldmine for the eventual winners. That list was narrowed down to 12, then 11, when a joint bid by the world’s two biggest mobile operators—Vodafone and China Mobile—was dropped in still-murky circumstances.

The licenses will be ready by September, the Burmese government says, despite the absence of some relevant legislation, though the government’s statement on Thursday said it expects the new telecoms law to be adopted during the current sitting of Burma’s Parliament in the administrative capital Naypyidaw.

Reacting to the announcement of the license winners, Kyaw Zaw Maung, head of the Directorate of Investments and Company Administration (DICA), part of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, told The Irrawaddy that “we are late compared with our neighboring countries to develop the telecoms sector, so the foreign companies will help and be welcome for this.”

Telenor, which works in five Asian countries, said on Thursday afternoon after hearing of its license win, that “a full range of mobile services, both voice and data, will be commercially launched as the initial offering, anticipated to happen in 2014.”

The past year has seen bouts of deadly anti-Muslim violence in Burma and the rise of an anti-Muslim boycott campaign fronted by U Wirathu, an outspoken Buddhist monk, meaning the Qatari company Ooredoo could encounter commercial difficulties if faced with the same boycott affecting some of Burma’s Muslim-run businesses. Ye Htut’s Facebook announcement of the license winners prompted a number of comments decrying the awarding of a license to Ooredoo, which “is owned by Qatar and they are Islamic. So,don’t like ……..” went one remark.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Investment
Simon Roughneen

Simon Roughneen

Contributor

Similar Picks:

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption
Burma

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

by The Irrawaddy
September 14, 2023
28.7k

The arrest of ‘kickback king’ Lt-Gen Moe Myint Tun, once seen as a possible successor to Min Aung Hlaing, comes...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Arrests Thai Condo Buyers, Realtors as Currency Crashes
Business

Myanmar Junta Arrests Thai Condo Buyers, Realtors as Currency Crashes

by The Irrawaddy
June 4, 2024
27.6k

Monday’s arrests follow reports that Myanmar has become one of Thailand’s most lucrative markets for selling condos since the 2021...

Read moreDetails
Planeload of Cronies Accompany Myanmar Junta Boss on Russia Trip
Business

Planeload of Cronies Accompany Myanmar Junta Boss on Russia Trip

by Hein Htoo Zan
March 7, 2025
10.7k

Regime-linked businessmen are set to cash in on deals flowing from the 10 agreements signed between Russia and the Myanmar...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar’s Youth Flee—and They Aren’t Looking Back
Commentary

Myanmar’s Youth Flee—and They Aren’t Looking Back

by Aung Zaw
February 23, 2024
8.4k

In Thailand and farther afield, they join the wealthy and the educated who have already put down roots and invested...

Read moreDetails
Tracking the Business Empire of Myanmar Regime Stalwart Moe Aung and His Siblings
Investigation

Tracking the Business Empire of Myanmar Regime Stalwart Moe Aung and His Siblings

by Aung Thit
September 4, 2023
7.1k

In the second of a two-part series, The Irrawaddy’s Investigation Desk examines more of the vast business interests of the children of...

Read moreDetails
With Proposed Security Gambit, Beijing Decides ‘Enough Is Enough’ in Myanmar
Analysis

With Proposed Security Gambit, Beijing Decides ‘Enough Is Enough’ in Myanmar

by The Irrawaddy
November 21, 2024
4.9k

China’s establishment of a joint venture security company with the junta to safeguard BRI projects in Myanmar shows it no...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
US Suspends Bangladesh Trade Privileges

US Suspends Bangladesh Trade Privileges

China Lifts 17-Year Ban on Dalai Lama Photos at Tibet Monastery: Group

China Lifts 17-Year Ban on Dalai Lama Photos at Tibet Monastery: Group

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

3 days ago
1.6k
China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

2 days ago
1.6k

Most Read

  • On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Bago Resistance Claims 20 Myanmar Junta Personnel Killed

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Global Campaign Reaches Goal to Honor Aung San Suu Kyi on Her 80th Birthday

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • KIA, Junta Troops Continue Battle for Control of Myanmar’s Jade Hub

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ADB Announces Record $100m Quake Aid Package for Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.