Cost of Ooredoo SIMs jumps 10 times ahead of official launch
Prices of Ooredoo Myanmar SIM cards have jumped as much as 10 times the price the company said they would be sold for - Ks 1,500 apiece - as mobile phone shops in Yangon have run out of stock, shop staff said.
“Our shop has a share of the SIM cards, but we ran out. There have many buyers and some registered in advance,” said an employee of Today Mobile, adding that Ooredoo had only given the shop a small number of SIM cards.
Executives at Ooredoo Myanmar have been tight-lipped about the sales of their SIM cards in Mandalay and Yangon, but a source at the company said the shops had jumped the gun and started sales before they were supposed to.
The executive said that the launch was planned for tomorrow, with a press conference to announce it. “Officially we will launch on Saturday, but unofficially some shops in Mandalay decided to sell earlier,” said the executive who asked not to be named. “They had been told not to do so,” the executive said.
He said that free calls are being offered for two weeks because the network will not be completely ready till August 15.
Earlier this week Ooredoo executive Thiri Kyar Nyo told Eleven Media: "I have no comment on current sales [of SIM cards]. We will release detailed information at our press conference on August 2.”
Tomorrow’s launch will cover Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay, sources said.
Ooredoo previously said it would introduce its SIM cards in the third week of August, but shop owners began selling them earlier this week, first in Mandalay and then in Yangon. The sales caused long queues outside mobile phone shops.
Ooredoo Myanmar has yet to widely distribute SIM cards, and shops that received them raised the price as much as 10 times.
Maung Maung, a resident of Tamwe Township, said he tried to buy an Ooredoo SIM card but was told he had to pay Ks 5,000 for one. “I didn’t buy it. This should not happen. They shouldn’t do that to customers,” Maung Maung said, adding that he would wait one week for the price to fall. I will wait a week. The SIM card prices will be cheaper then. Now, demand is too high.”
Ooredoo SIM card numbers start with the digits 09-99 and include 900 minutes of free calls, show owners said. Top up cards will be sold for Ks 1,000, Ks 2,000, Ks 3,000 and Ks 5,000, they said.
Nation TV reported that foreigners are unable to buy the SIM cards, except through a Myanmar national as each purchase requires a copy of the buyer’s national registration card.
