Carribean telco Digicel is in talks with Myanmar’s state operator to form a joint venture, according to a company executive speaking to TelecomFinance.
Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT) is the country’s sole operator and will be privatised as…
Carribean telco Digicel is in talks with Myanmar’s state operator to form a joint venture, according to a company executive speaking to TelecomFinance.
Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT) is the country’s sole operator and will be privatised as part of the country’s reforms to its telecoms industry.
“Digicel has been consistently focussed on developing a long-term joint venture partnership with the existing operator, MPT,” Vanessa Slowey, CEO for Digicel Pacific, told TelecomFinance.
“We have been looking at the Myanmar market for the past two years. We have had a team on the ground for the past nine months.
“The government is setting the pace but has made great progress. They are in the final stages of selecting a consultant to oversee the whole liberalisation of the sector and privatisation of MPT.”
Myanmar is in the process of forming a telecoms regulator and will be issuing a limited number of ‘greenfield’ licences to telcos alongside MPT’s joint venture.
Regarding potential in the Myanmar market, Slowey commented: Myanmar’s population is 55 to 60 million people and less than 3 million have mobile phones today, so there is a significant opportunity for growth.”
For more on Myanmar’s burgeoning telecoms market, read the feature in this month’s TelecomFinance magazine, due later this week.
