Myanmar’s fourth mobile licence has drawn applications from 17 local companies, it emerged this week.
The country is setting up a consortium of players to run its fourth mobile network and will announce the names of the winners in September, Reuters reported, citing an official from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT).
There is no limit to the number of local players that will be permitted to join the consortium, the newswire added.
One of the parties will presumably be ISP Yatanarpon Teleport (YTP), although there was no mention of the company in the Reuters report.
Myanmar overhauled its telecoms market two years ago and since then incumbent Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and foreign operators Telenor and Ooredoo have begun offering mobile services. YTP was named as the country’s fourth mobile operator and was reportedly looking for partners, but has not been mentioned in MCIT announcements recently.
Chit Wai, a deputy permanent secretary at MCIT, on Wednesday said that once the local consortium members have been selected, the ministry will appoint an interna tional consulting firm to help it select a foreign partner for the venture.
MPT took a similar path, partnering with Japanese mobile operator KDDI and conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation.
The fourth licence will be valid for 15 years and will likely be granted before the end of the year, Chit Wai told Reuters.
