Telenor pips Airtel in Myanmar licence race

Qatar's former Qatar Telecom and present Ooredoo has also got licence in Myanmar

Norway-based Telenor and Qatar’s Ooredoo (formerly Qatar Telecom) are set to become the first foreign telecom operators in Myanmar, where just one out of 10 use mobile phones.

The two companies received the licence through a government tender process. Nine other global telecom operators, including a consortium led by France Telecom, Singapore Telecom and Bharti Airtel, had reached the final round of the tender process.

Myanmar has named France Telecom, which partnered Japan’s Marubeni Corp for the bid, as a back-up candidate. It would replace Telenor or Ooredoo if any of these fail to meet post-tender conditions.

The two licences, expected to be finalised by September, would be valid for 15 years. The new operators would have to meet population and geographical coverage targets, share infrastructure and commit to offering low initial subscription fees.

According to a study by Deloitte, telecom companies have to invest about $4 billion in building infrastructure in Myanmar.