More Mobile Phone Service Available to Burmese

Burma’s Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) is set to add more than 200,000 GSM mobile phone and CDMA phone SIM cards in Rangoon and Mandalay within six months, according to MPT.

An official at MPT said that Burmese authorities will sell 80,000 GSM mobile phone SIM cards and 150,000 CDMA phone SIM cards before the military government sponsored 2010 election.

“GSM mobile phone SIM cards for the Rangoon city area will be sold at an official price of 1.5 million kyat (US $1,376),” said the official.

In cellular phone service in Burma, there are two main competing network technologies: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).

According to MPT sources, Brig-Gen Thein Zaw, the minister of communications, posts and telegraphs, ordered 33 telecommunication towers to be upgraded across the country.

MPT will introduce 150,000 CDMA 800 MHz phones: 100,000 phones for Rangoon and 50,000 phones for Mandalay, according to unofficial sources who said that the CDMA phones will be sold for less less than 1 million kyat (US $917).

A journalist based in Rangoon said that the phone expansion is related to the government’s inadequate budget.

“It’s obvious that government needs more money to expand in the 2010 election, so they will try to sell as much as possible,” he said. 

Burma introduced a cellular phone system in 1993, followed by the CDMA system in 1997, the GSM system in 2002 and CDM-450 MHz in 2008.

The MPT remains the only mobile phone service provider in Burma. According to available statistics, Burma had 375,800 GSM subscribers at the end of 2008, up from 211,812 in 2007.

CDMA-based network subscribers numbered 205,500 in 2008.

Central Marketing Company, a division of Htoo Trading Company owned by wealthy businessman Tay Za, introduced one-use prepaid GSM mobile phone service and CDMA-450 MHz mobile phone SIM cards jointly with state-owned MPT early this year. Tay Za is close to Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his family.