MPT, KDDI and Sumitomo introduce new products and services
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Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT) has announced the launch of new products and services after an agreement with Japanese telecommunication giants KDDI and Sumitomo on Friday at the Chatrium Hotel in Yangon.
The ceremony was attended by officials from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and MPT, plus representatives from KDDI and Sumitomo and invited guests.
Myat Hein, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said: “MPT will have to reform. They will have to change their ethics, minds and thinking. Users can choose which service they like now as there are four telecom operators. We are aiming to develop the telecommunications sector not only to urban areas but also for rural areas.”
MPT, KDDI and Sumitomo signed an MoU in July, 2014 and the agreement started from September 1. In every step of the process, staff from both sides have been chosen to lead.
MPT also introduced its new website www.mpt.com.mm and its new motto “MPT: Moving Myanmar Forward”. MPT is giving bonuses to celebrate its launch of new products and services and doubled the bonuses on September 13 and 14. In a new promotion, MPT users who top up Ks 5,000 will get 40 per cent more, while Ks 10,000 and above will have 60 per cent more.
Meanwhile, MPT expects to sell over five million SIM cards before 2015 and the operator which will give 24-hour services and other attractive programmes will be introduced.
KDDI is Japan’s second largest telecommunication provider and has over 50 million users currently. Sumitomo entered Myanmar about 50 years. They will invest US$2 billion in the project.
MPT reduced the requirement of 3G networks to 20 per cent. Now the voice call has improved up to about 20 per cent when the phone calls are made mostly. Sometimes the call is suddenly cut off but that kind of case is only one per cent of total calls.
Meanwhile MPT has temporarily stopped selling Ks 1500 SIM cards to prevent unscrupulous sellers to sell it on “black market” and mark up the prices. It has sold 700,000 SIM cards in first 10 days of September but only 480,000 SIM cards are currently in use. The rest are believed to be in the hands of people who want to sell them on the black market.
An official from MPT’s economic department under a joint venture said: “We have stopped sales of K 1,500 SIM cards for the moment because we are concerned about black marketeers who will sell the SIM cards for a good price. We urge people not to buy their SIM cards. We will sell the SIM cards later to meet the market demand.”
People are buying the SIM cards from the black market because MPT stopped the sales, sources say.
MPT said it would resume sales of the SIM cards soon.
“We will sell as many of them as needed to meet demand,” the MPT official said. “Our top priority is clear voice service. Later, we will provide the services which the people should have. People are not trusted at MPT a lot.”
