Myanmar’s telecommunications regulator could shelf the recent draft of the telecommunications law in light of a recent market-led ‘free telephone initiative’, IFLR can reveal.
Myanmar’s Post & Telecommunications Department (PTD) announced in March the country’s outdated telecommunications market was to open up to foreign investment through a new law which would see new telecom licenses awarded to both domestic and foreign operators. Foreign companies were previously prohibited from holding such licenses in the country
But market participants considered the move a terrible mistake and began lobbying the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs’ operator, Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) to adopt a policy that learns from recent trends in the international telecom sector as well as from the mistakes of Myanmar’s neighbours.
This so-called ‘free telephone initiative’ aims – as the name suggests - to ensure fast, effective and ultimately...