Myanmar has received seven expressions of interest in its fourth telecoms licence, according to Chit Wai, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). The successful applicant will reportedly become a partner in a joint venture with a consortium of 11 local investors, including state-backed ISP Yatanarpon Teleport.
Myanmar has received seven expressions of interest in its fourth telecoms licence, according to Chit Wai, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT).
The minister said the seven companies have submitted official expressions of interest (EOIs) but would not name them, Reuters reported.
MCIT will select a preferred bidder and apply to the Posts and Telecommunications Department for a 15-year licence, the report stated.
The successful applicant will reportedly become a partner in a joint venture with a consortium of 11 local investors, including state-backed ISP Yatanarpon Teleport (YTP). The local investors will own 51% of the JV, while the foreign partner will own the remaining 49%.
The chairman for the tender committee told TelecomFinance that it is now finalising a request for proposals which “will be sent in due time”.
Last December, the government extended the deadline for EOIs from 18 December to 8 January.
The market is currently home to three players: Norway’s Telenor, Qatari incumbent Ooredoo and MPT, a joint venture between the telecoms ministry and Japanese telco KDDI.
One person familiar with the market predicted that Vietnam’s Viettel, Thailand’s True Move, France’s Orange and Malaysia’s Axiata would all likely apply this time around.
During the 2013 privatisation process, Millicom, Orange, Bharti and Digicel prequalified as bidders, while the government invited Vodafone, SingTel and Orange to apply to become foreign partners to the ministry.
The ministry could not be reached for further comment.