Telecommunications in Burma

All communications in Burma are controlled by the government.

Telecommunication networks

Installation of telephones and the cost of calling are prohibitively expensive for most people. To call overseas for two minutes would cost more than most earn in a month.

Telephones - main lines in use: 503,900 (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 5,400,000 (2012)

Telephone system:
general assessment: meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government
domestic: system barely capable of providing basic service; cellular phone system is grossly underdeveloped with a subscribership base of less than 1 per 100 persons
international: country code - 95; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE 3 optical telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; satellite earth stations - 2, Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and ShinSat (2007)

Bids have been offered for two fresh telecom licenses by the Myanmar Government. The deadline is set to be Feb 8, 2013. The licenses are expected to be issued in June and carry a contract duration of up to 20 years. Two more licenses are expected to offered following this round of bidding.

According to government statistics, 5.4 million of Myanmar’s 60 million population had a mobile phone subscription at end-2012, giving the country a mobile penetration of 9 per cent.

According to official figures released in mid 2012, Myanmar had 857 Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) for 1,654,667 local GSM mobile users, 188 BTSs for 225,617 local WCDMA mobile users, 366 BTSs for 633,569 local CDMA-450 mobile users, and 193 BTSs for 341,687 CDMA-800 mobile users. Huawei who has built 40 percent of the towers and ZTE has built 60 percent in Myanmar, which amounts to 1500 across the country, said it has built the towers mostly in Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw.

The Myanmar Telecommunications Operator Tender Evaluation and Selection Committee selected Norwegian Telenor Group and Ooredoo of Qatar as winners of the bidding, for the two telecom licences issued by the government of Myanmar. The licenses allow the operators to build and operate a nationwide wireless network for 15 years. Ooredoo began selling low price SIM cards at a price of USD 1.5 in Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw in August 2014.

Media

Radio broadcast stations AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 3 (2007)

Television broadcast stations: 4 (2008)

Press

1. Kyehmon (Burmese: ကြေးမုံ) - state-run daily
2. The New Light of Myanmar (Burmese: Myanma A-lin) - English and Burmese language organ of SPDC
3. The Myanmar Times (Burmese: Myanma Taing) - private-run English-language weekly
4. Myanmar Business Today - the country's first and the only private-run business weekly

Television

1. MTV or MTV1 - state-run, operated by Myanmar TV - broadcasts in Burmese language.
2. MTV2 - state-run, sister channel of MTV - broadcast in Burmese language and some local languages
3. MTV International - state-run international TV service
4. MTV3 - state-run, another sister channel of MTV - doesn't broadcast in Burmese but in Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese and English. (pay TV)
5. MTV4 - state-run 24 hours sport channel. (pay TV)
6. MRTV - state-run, operated by Myanmar Radio TV - broadcasts in Burmese, Arakanese, Shan, Karen, Kachin, Kayah, Chin, Mon and English
7. MRTV-3 - state-run second international TV service
8. MRTV-4 - pay TV service (only available in Yangon)
9. TV Myawady - army-run network
10. Democratic Voice of Burma - Activists from the 88 Generation launched it. Based in Norway, it makes both TV and Radio broadcasts

Radio

1. Radio Myanmar - state-run, operated by Myanmar TV and Radio Department
2. Yangon City FM - entertainment-based, operated by Yangon City Development Committee
3. Democratic Voice of Burma - opposition station based in Norway, broadcasts via shortwave

News agency

1. Myanmar News Agency (MNA) - state-run

Internet

The government now allows access to the entire Internet, a lot of people are using the internet freely. Usually with their mobiles.

Myanmar Teleport (formerly Bagan Cybertech), Information Technology Central Services (ITCS), and the state-owned Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT) are the Internet service providers in Myanmar. Internet cafés are common in the larger cities of the country. Faster satellite internet connection is also available from Skynet, a satellite television provider. [1]

According to MPT's official statistics as of July 2010, the country had over 400,000 Internet users (0.8% of the population) with the vast majority of the users located in the two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay.

Most of the people use the internet with the Mobile Data(Cellular Data) Edited 2014

See also

• Censorship in Burma

References

External links

• Myanmar Post and Telecoms - the government ISP
• Myanmar Phone Card one of the cheapest and most reliable options to make calls towards Myanmar remains calling cards