MPT prepares for price war with Ooredoo, sources say
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State-owned telecom operator Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) is planning to slice its calling rates, according to sources from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
Initial reports say MPT is preparing to cut its per-minute rates from Ks 50 to Ks 20, or lower.
MPT currently charges Ks 50 per minute for local calls from 7am to 11pm and Ks 25 per minute from 11pm to 7am.
The move is regarded as a response to the debut of a rival in the market, Ooredoo Myanmar, and a second next month, Myanmar Telenor, which analysts say is likely to pose the biggest immediate threat as it will offer both a 2G and 3G network, allowing it to expand its coverage area at a faster pace than Ooredoo, which has only a 3G network.
MPT is also planning to change its service fees for SMS and Internet access if it can get permission from authorities to do so.
Sources say it is preparing to cut rates for its SMS service from the current Ks 25 per message to Ks 10, or less.
They say, however, that it will not change its current strategy of charging for Internet access based on time. It charges Ks 2 per minute for 2G Internet access and Ks 4 per minute for 3G Internet access. Ooredoo sells Internet access based on the amounts of megabytes. MPT is, however, mulling eliminating its initial installation fee for Internet service, which is Ks 10,000, sources say.
They also said MPT is considering a switch from time to volume based usage for payment of voice calls.
Ooredoo charges Ks 25 per minute for local calls within its network and Ks 35 for calls to different operators, Ks 25 per text message and Ks 25 per megabyte of Internet access.
