Myanmar grants licences to foreign telecom companies

The Myanmar government has granted telecommunication service operating licences to two foreign companies, Telenor of Norway and Ooredoo of Qatar.

The ministry of communications and information technology has given the licence for 15 years and will be effective from Feb 5, Xinhua reported Friday.

Telenor Group, based in Oslo, Norway, has mobile operations in 11 countries across Europe and Asia.

Ooredoo, formerly known as Qatar Telecom, is based in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The government had invited public tenders from international investors for two telecommunications operator service licences in January 2013 and the two companies won the tenders in June.

Altogether 91 telecommunication companies at home and abroad, including multi-national ones, had bid for the tenders.