Despite the Myanmar government’s push to expand access to financial services, the country still trails far behind the rest of Asia in rates of participation in formal financial services, financial literacy, savings rates and the use of digital financial services, according to a new report by social enterprise ONOW Myanmar. But fintech and mobile technology […]
With 70% Unbanked Population, Myanmar Bets on Fintech to Improve Financial Inclusion
November 25, 2019 by
Telecom Sector Draws Foreign Investment
January 8, 2018 by
YANGON — The Telecommunications sector has become the top destination for foreign investment under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA). “Under the previous governments, most of the foreign investments went to the energy and electricity sectors. But foreign investment in the telecommunications sector has […]
In dirt-poor Myanmar, smartphones are transforming finance
October 19, 2017 by
MYANMAR’S democratic transition sometimes seems marked as much by continuity as by change. Depressingly, the army continues its bloody persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the west, for example (see article). But elsewhere moves to open the country’s markets, started by the preceding military regimes, have gathered pace. New commercial and financial services are springing up. […]
Telecoms battle to unlock demand in emerging Asia
October 10, 2017 by
TOKYO/YANGON — In a tiny village in central Myanmar, about a two-hour drive from the nation’s second largest city Mandalay, electricity does not arrive through power lines. It comes from home generators or solar panels. But that does not stop the locals from charging their smartphones. “How many of you have a mobile phone?” the […]
Big 4G Push to Drive Myanmar’s Smartphone Use
June 8, 2017 by
YANGON — Smartphone use in Myanmar is getting a major boost as the country’s largest mobile carrier has bumped up the wireless data transmission speed in major cities, paving the way for more fluid video viewing. The government-affiliated Myanma Posts and Telecommunications on Tuesday began full service of 4G mobile data transmission in Myanmar’s three largest cities: Naypyitaw, Yangon […]
Fourth Telco Licence in The Offing
August 5, 2015 by
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has invited proposals from local public companies to provide telecommunications services jointly with a foreign firm in the country. This is the fourth telecom licence being offered by the authorities after Myanmar liberalised its telecommunications sector last year by dishing out operating licences to two foreign operators […]
Myanmar scraps proposed 5 per cent tax on phone top-up cards as telecom industry boom
May 29, 2015 by
YANGON: Myanmar scrapped a proposed 5 per cent tax on mobile phone top-up cards after lawmakers voted against the levy, the state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said on Thursday, as one of the world’s once least connected nations fast catches up. The tax was first announced in a surprise move by the telecommunications […]
Myanmar Tower Co in talks for firm’s sale
May 26, 2015 by
Myanmar Tower Company (MTC), which is owned by Digical Asian Holdings, a joint venture between Digicel Group and YSH Finance, has been put up for sale, including all its contracts and sites, according to several market sources. Several companies have made an initial bid and are now carrying out the due diligence process on MTC, […]
Local consortium to claim Myanmar’s fourth telco licence
May 25, 2015 by
Yatanarpon Teleport (YTP) is working with a management committee to form a consortium of local partners, which will bid jointly for Myanmar’s coveted fourth telecommunications operator licence, according to YTP chief executive officer U Shane Thu Aung. After years in which the telecommunications sector was dominated by state-owned monopoly Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), in […]
