Vietnamese military-run Viettel has said its joint venture with two Myanmar companies will invest a combined $2 billion in Myanmar’s telecoms sector, an increase of $500 million to its original projection. The joint venture of Viettel Global, Viettel’s investment arm, Myanmar National Telecom Holding Public Limited and Star High Public Company Limited, received Myanmar’s fourth, and last, telecom licence on January 14th.
‘Company says it plans to rollout its network very quickly as spokesperson admits ‘other operators are running ahead of us’
Viettel has a 49 percent stake in the venture while its partners own the remainder. The joint venture had planned to invest $1.5 billion in the project, Viettel said in April last year.
The liberalisation of Myanmar’s telecoms sector has been a key example of successful reform since the military ceded power in 2011, with Norwegian operator Telenor and Qatar’s Ooredoo establishing themselves in the southeast Asian nation.
The firm’s entry adds competition to a market that industry figures say has already become saturated in terms of SIM card penetration. Telenor has said it will now target data services for its growth, while Ooredoo has said it is expanding its network to target more areas of the country.
U Khin Maung Soe, chairman of Myanmar National Tele & Communications, the new firm, has said the company will focus on penetrating rural populations rather than urban areas. The company says it aims to cover 95 percent of the total population by 2020.
It acknowledges that established competitors have a significant head start.
“Other operators are running ahead of us. The Myanmar telecom market is booming more than we expected,” U Zaw Min Oo, External Relational Officer for the firm, told a recent press briefing.
MPT is the largest player in the market with 23 million subscribers, while Telenor has 17 million and Ooredoo has 8.3 million.
Viettel’s Deputy General Director Le Dang Dung said in a statement the firm “will build an advanced and widespread telecommunications network in Myanmar and will try to do it very quickly.”
With the new project, Myanmar will be the biggest among Viettel’s 10 foreign markets across Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Source: Myanmar Business Today
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