Telenor Myanmar

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For other uses, see Telenor (disambiguation).
Telenor Myanmar
Native name
တယ်လီနော မြန်မာ
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded2014; 8 years ago (2014)
Headquarters
Yangon
,
Myanmar
Key people
Jon Omund Revhaug (CEO)[1]
Number of employees
780
ParentTelenor
Websitewww.telenor.com.mm

Telenor Myanmar (Burmese: တယ်လီနော မြန်မာ) is a telecommunications company in Myanmar (Burma). It remains a subsidiary of the Norwegian Telenor Group,[2] after an attempt by the parent company to sell off Telenor Myanmar to the Lebanese M1 Group in the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.[3] As of September 2021, the Burmese government has not approved the proposed transaction.

History[]

In February 2013, Telenor participated in the bidding for newly available Myanmar mobile licences.[4] On 27 June 2013, it was announced that Telenor had been awarded one of two 15-year contracts for telecom development in Myanmar.[5]

Telenor received its licence from the Government of Myanmar to officially start mobile network operations on 5 February 2014. Its mobile network was trialled on 7 April 2014, and mobile services began operations in the cities of Mandalay on 27 September 2014. Telenor's network subsequently launched in Naypyidaw on 4 October 2014, and full coverage of Myanmar achieved on 26 October 2014. Telenor provides mobile voice and internet services using 2G and 3G GSM technology. Its network is LTE ready and plans to cover 90% of the Myanmar population within 5 years of operations

In June 2014, Telenor Myanmar helped the Burmese Wikipedia community to hold their first joint workshop to recruit new volunteers.[6] The Burmese Wikipedia Forum was held at Dagon University with the help of Telenor Myanmar in July 2014, attracting over 2,000 people, including students.[7]

In November 2014, Telenor and Yoma Bank announced their cooperation to provide mobile banking to Myanmar.[8] The aim of their cooperation is to provide access to financial services to people who do not have bank accounts.[9] As of June 2019, it had more than 19 million subscribers.

Forced shutdowns[]

For several months, ending in September 2019, Telenor Myanmar was ordered to shut off service to Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung and Myebon.[10] In February 2020, the Ministry of Transport and Communications ordered Telenor to shut off service to five townships in Rakhine State and Chin State.[10]

Telenor was under pressure from Myanmar's government to shut down its internet coverage in various parts of the country which resulted loss of Telenor business in Myanmar. In the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Telenor cited "increasing pressure to activate intercept equipment that is subject to Norwegian and European sanctions for use by the authorities in Myanmar" for its decision to divest.[11] In May 2021, Telenor was forced to write off USD$780 million[12] investment in Myanmar. On 8 July 2021, Telenor announced it has sold its Myanmar's business for $105 million to M1 Group, an investment company based in Lebanon, founded by the Lebanese Taha Mikati and Najib Mikati.[13] The sale has not been approved by Burmese regulatory authorities, who have cited concerns about M1's corruption charges, the company's close ties to the Syrian government, and the company's operating methods.[14]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ https://www.telenor.com.mm/en/article/jon-omund-revhaug-appointed-ceo-telenor-myanmar
  2. ^ "Telenor Myanmar | Telenor Myanmar". Telenor.com.mm. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  3. ^ Telenor wanted to quit Myanmar with $105 mln sale to Lebanon's M1 Group, Victoria Klesty, July 8, 2021, reuters
  4. ^ "All eyes on the Myanmar leapfrog". Retrieved 2013-04-05.
  5. ^ "Burma awards lucrative mobile phone contracts". BBC News. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Telenor Group - Bringing Wikipedia to Myanmar". Telenor Group.
  7. ^ Win Htut. "Telenor hosts Wikipedia forum at Dagon University". Eleven Myanmar.
  8. ^ James Barton (25 November 2014). "Telenor readying mobile money with Yoma in Myanmar". Developing Telecoms. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  9. ^ Jeremy Mullins and Aye Thida Kyaw (24 November 2014). "'Stay tuned' for mobile banking services from Yoma and Telenor, say CEOs". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 2 October 2015.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  10. ^ a b Aung, Thu Thu; Moon, Sam Aung; Latiff, Rozanna. Cameron-Moore, Simon; Perry, Michael (eds.). "Myanmar reimposes internet shutdown in conflict-torn Rakhine, Chin states: telco operator". Reuters.
  11. ^ "Myanmar FDI drops to 8-year low, reflecting post-takeover unrest". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  12. ^ GDC (2021-07-14). "Norwegian Telenor exits Myanmar after the military coup". Global Defense Corp. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  13. ^ "Telenor Group sells Telenor Myanmar to M1 Group". Telenor Group. 2021-07-08. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  14. ^ "Telenor's Myanmar sell-off mired in uncertainty". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2021-11-02.

External links[]

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