The Military-run telecom group, Viettel is expected to offer the world’s first 4G Only network in Myanmar in the first quarter of 2018, marking its first steps in the country.— Photo thuongtruong.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Military-run telecom group, Viettel is expected to offer the world’s first 4G Only network in Myanmar in the first quarter of 2018, marking its first steps in the country.

The joint venture – MyTel was granted a licence at the beginning of the year. However, Viettel has pursued the market since 2002.

Viettel planned to make a big investment into Myanmar which is the country with the largest population (55 million) among its 10 foreign markets.

Myanmar’s telecom market has been dominated by three network providers including MPT with 42 per cent market share, Telenor (Norway) at 35 per cent and Ooredoo (Qatar) at 23 per cent. MyTel is the fourth telecom provider in the country.

MyTel would not develop 2G and 3G services in Myanmar but move directly to 4G. When officially inaugurated, MyTel will have the largest infrastructure system with almost 7,200 base transceiver stations (BTS) covering 90 per cent of Myanmar’s population and 33,000 kilometres of fibre cable – double that of its biggest rival in the country.

With its fast progress, MyTel plans to quickly build infrastructure and begin operations in 10 overseas markets. MyTel has branches in Myanmar nationwide, and around 2,000 employees.

Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng and Myanmar Vice President U Myint Swe on Saturday cut the ribbon to inaugurate the headquarters of Telecom International Myanmar (MyTel) in Yangon, a joint venture by Việt Nam’s Viettel Group and a Myanmar partner.

On the occasion, the Party leader and Myanmar’s Vice President U Myint Swe witnessed the signing of a co-operation agreement between MyTel and the Ministry of Education of Myanmar, under which MyTel will provide Internet services to over 1,350 schools, supply them with computers and develop education management software for the schools. This would be the first public project under MyTel’s commitment to its corporate social responsibility programme worth US$80 million over the next 15 years in Myanmar.

The project has been given much attention as it has a total investment of around $1.5 billion, of which Viettel contributed 49 per cent. Its investment also accounts for 66 per cent of Vietnamese total capital in Myanmar and pushes Việt Nam from 10th to 7th position among 47 foreign investors in Myanmar and the second biggest investor from the ASEAN region.

Trọng noted that MyTel should not only focus on profits. It is required to affirm and enhance Vietnamese prestige, culture and value through its business activities.

He said that Viettel would be one of the important bridges for the relationship and co-operation in socio-economic development between the two countries.

Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, Viettel’s general director told the media that when Myanmar chose Viettel as its partner in infrastructure investment, it has shown its trust in the politics, financial ability, experience and technological capacity of Vietnamese firms.

Hùng said MyTel would apply roaming charges for Việt Nam, Laos Cambodia and Myanmar that are equivalent to domestic charges. This proves the dedication of Việt Nam and Viettel in building a strong ASEAN community.

Nguyễn Thanh Nam, MyTel’s general director said it would complete the entire infrastructure before the inauguration.

“Myamar has been the economy with the highest growth rate of 7 per cent among Viettel’s overseas markets. The growth rate has been one of the most important to ensure the success of a project,” Nam said. — VNS