Telenor seen as frontrunner for Myanmar license
When Myanmar grants two mobile phone licenses tomorrow, June 27, observers expect that Norway’s telecom giant Telenor will be one of the winners.
Telenor is among the 11 remaining bidders for the two nationwide licenses in a market that is seen as the last frontier globally to roll out a complete network in a country where less then 4 per cent of the population use mobile phones.
According to local reports, Telenor has already begun recruiting staff even before is has even been issued a license. The company reportedly committed to invest a minimum of $3 billion into the roll-out, far less then the $9 billion pledged by competitor Digicel, a consortium backed by investors George Soros, and Ooredoo (formerly Qatar Telecom), which said it wants to invest no less than $15 billion in total.
However, Telenior expresses to be “confident” to be awarded a license. It says that it has large experience in the region, with network operations in Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
Other bidders are, apart from the three companies mentioned, France Telecom, Airtel, Millicom, MTN, Axiata, KDDI, Singtel and Viettel.
A recent McKinsey report predicted that the telecom sector’s contribution to Myanmar’s GDP will increase to $6.4 billion by 2030 from just $100 million in 2010, with the number of jobs in the sector rising to 240,000 from 2,600.
When Myanmar grants two mobile phone licenses tomorrow, June 27, observers expect that Norway's telecom giant Telenor will be one of the winners. Telenor is among the 11 remaining bidders for the two nationwide licenses in a market that is seen as the last frontier globally to roll out a complete network in a country where less then 4 per cent of the population use mobile phones. According to local reports, Telenor has already begun recruiting staff even before is has even been issued a license. The company reportedly committed to invest a minimum of $3 billion into the roll-out,...
When Myanmar grants two mobile phone licenses tomorrow, June 27, observers expect that Norway’s telecom giant Telenor will be one of the winners.
Telenor is among the 11 remaining bidders for the two nationwide licenses in a market that is seen as the last frontier globally to roll out a complete network in a country where less then 4 per cent of the population use mobile phones.
According to local reports, Telenor has already begun recruiting staff even before is has even been issued a license. The company reportedly committed to invest a minimum of $3 billion into the roll-out, far less then the $9 billion pledged by competitor Digicel, a consortium backed by investors George Soros, and Ooredoo (formerly Qatar Telecom), which said it wants to invest no less than $15 billion in total.
However, Telenior expresses to be “confident” to be awarded a license. It says that it has large experience in the region, with network operations in Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
Other bidders are, apart from the three companies mentioned, France Telecom, Airtel, Millicom, MTN, Axiata, KDDI, Singtel and Viettel.
A recent McKinsey report predicted that the telecom sector’s contribution to Myanmar’s GDP will increase to $6.4 billion by 2030 from just $100 million in 2010, with the number of jobs in the sector rising to 240,000 from 2,600.
