Ooredoo Myanmar has secured US$300m in funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) to expand its 34 mobile network. The two banks will each contribute a US$150m loan, its Qatar-based parent said in a statement.
Ooredoo’s Myanmar unit has secured US$300m in funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) to expand its mobile network.
Manila-based ADB and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will each provide a US$150m loan, Qatar-based Ooredoo (QA:ORDS) said in a statement.
Ooredoo and Norway’s Telenor received licences to roll out networks in Myanmar in early 2014. They compete with MPT, a joint venture between the telecoms ministry and Japanese telco KDDI, and a process is underway to issue a fourth licence.
Ooredoo said the funding would help accelerate the rollout of its 3G network, which it says covers more than 80% of the population.
Group CEO Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani said “Our investments in Myanmar continue to support the good revenue and customer growth trends we have recorded in the country … The financing deal demonstrates our commitment in Myanmar and strong potential of Ooredoo Myanmar to accelerate the delivery of its network and services to the people of Myanmar.”
The fourth licence is expected to be awarded to a joint venture between a local and an international player in the first half of this year. The government received interest from seven international players.
Last July, Telenor said its subscriber base in Myanmar had surpassed 10 million, while Ooredoo said it had 3.3 million customers at the end of April.
As of 2013, Myanmar had a population of 53.26 million, according to the World Bank.