Myanmar picks Vietnam’s Viettel for fourth telecom license

Myanmar is granting its fourth telecom licence to a consortium led by a Vietnamese mobile network operator and including a military-run company, as it looks to further open up its young but increasingly competitive telecoms market.

Hanoi-based Viettel will be the third foreign telco to enter the country, tying up with 11 local firms and an outfit owned by Myanmar’s defence ministry, according to a government statement Friday. The tender selection for the 15year licence comes just days before an army-backed government is scheduled to cede power to the first civilian administration in decades, led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).

The military’s stake in the venture is likely to fuel running concern that the still-powerful institution is racing to secure its financial clout ahead of the presidential hand-off. Though it is no longer ruling through an iron-fisted junta, Myanmar’s military remains a mighty force in the impoverished country, with army-linked tycoons still pulling the purse strings in many lucrative industries.

Norway’s Telenor and Qatar’s Ooredoo were the first foreign firms to enter the telecoms market in 2014 after reformist ex-generals opened Myanmar’s doors to outside competition. Before that cell phones were a luxury few could afford, with a state-owned monopoly selling SIM cards for up to US$1,500.

Today the country is teeming with smart phones, cheap SIMs and a lively web culture also made possible by a loosening of junta-era censorship laws. According to government data, Myanmar’s mobile penetration rate skyrocketed from 9.5 to 77.7 percent in just two years after the foreign firms joined, hailed as “a record speed in the history of mobile telecommunications”.