Telecommunications

MTN ramps up Myanmar licence bid

Staff Writer

 ·15 May 2013

MTN Group has stepped up its bid to win what would be a lucrative telecommunications licence in Myanmar, through a country-wide media communication campaign.

The campaign is aimed at informing the nation about MTN’s achievements, capabilities and benefits for Myanmar when it is awarded the licence.

MTN has been pre-qualified to compete for a telecommunications licence in Myanmar, along 11 other companies, and is now preparing to submit its formal bid before the 3rd of June 2013 deadline for one of the two nation-wide telecoms licences.

It is believed that up to 90 parties had expressed interest in bidding for a licence in Myanmar due to its attractive opportunity by virtue of its population (60 million) and low mobile penetration rate (approximately 5%).

Telcos in the running:

The local operator said the following in a message published in various newspapers and broadcast on multiple radio stations in Myanmar:

“Today, MTN connects nearly 200 million people in 22 countries. Whenever we launch in a new country, we bring with us sustainable, real transformation to that nation, its people, and the local economy. We would like to do the same in Myanmar, and are confident of the benefits we would bring.”

Simphiwe Cele, MTN’s country representative in Myanmar, says MTN’s transformative power has brought tangible benefits to all markets where we operate, empowered citizens and helped raise living standards for millions in the developing world.

“We are proud of this legacy, and we would be honoured to have the unique opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to Myanmar’s socio-economic development,” Cele said.

MTN said its strength as a mobile operator in an emerging market such as Myanmar is its contribution to job creation.

MTN, explains Cele, is fully equal to – and in some instances larger than – some of foreign bidders it is competing with in Myanmar.

“Whether you are talking of geographic scope, technical depth or size, we’ve got it. Our understanding of the complexities of emerging markets is borne out of our first-hand experience in rolling out and running networks in different environments, with logistical capability unparalleled by first world operators,” the representative said.

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