Myanmar telcos takes advantage of role on  international stage 

Soe Thein, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Communica-tions and Information Technology who led the Myanmar delegation to MWC19, said all the operators gave impressive demonstrations at the event when he visited the booths of Telenor, Ooredoo and Mytel.
“In Myanmar, the network security system plays a very important role. The devices manufactured by Viettel [which takes the majority of Mytel’s shares] made the biggest impression on me,” he said.
He said the Ministry’s preparations are well underway for Myanmar’s future embrace of 5G, and will continue to support all operators.
“Currently, we are in the process of developing the environment and the legal basis to get ready for the upcoming 5G technology wave,” he said.
The official said the deployment of 5G networks by Myanmar telcos would emerge over the next few years, as all operators vied for the leadership position in 5G technology.
Vikram Sinha, board member of Ooredoo Myanmar, made a presentation on the telco’s commitment to support the nation’s digital transformation journey. “We showcased what we have done at Ooredoo Myanmar, to put Myanmar in the global digital arena on par with developed countries,” he said.
“Our team is geared up to provide more innovative digitalised services and products, combined with the best customer experiences to continue leading as a digital enabler.”
Serving more than 10 million SIM subscribers, Ooredoo Myanmar now covers 92 per cent of Myanmar’s population with its network. Driven by digitalisation and customer centricity, the firm launched many digital-based products and services last year and achieved many milestones in its digital journey, said Sinha.
“Everyone thinks of Myanmar as a Third World country, and so now is the best time for us to showcase Myanmar on track for transformation to a digital country,” he said.
Sharad Mehrotra, chief executive of Telenor Myanmar, took part in the congress along with its chief technology officer, Jai Prakash.
“We understand that MWC is an important arena to engage and collaborate with partners, businesses and authorities from markets in which Telenor operates, as well as those outside our footprint,” said Mehrotra.
He said the Myanmar telco also joined several representatives from Norway’s Telenor Group parent and its business units around the world to participate in the event. Serving more than 18 million customers with 8,300 sites and over 100,000 points-of-sale nationwide, Telenor Myanmar recently introduced a low-cost data-roaming package for its users visiting Thailand.
Zaw Min Oo, chief external relations officer at Mytel, said the operator launched the latest solutions and products in four core areas at MWC19 – smart telco, smart cities, network security and smart marine communication.
Having achieved more than 5 million subscribers after only seven months in operation, Mytel plans to double that to 10 million subscribers in Myanmar by year-end, he said.