Myanmar cellcos cleared to use 1800 for 4G

Myanmar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has granted permission to the market’s mobile operators to launch 4G over the 1800-MHz spectrum assigned to them.

Mynmar Posts and Telecommunications, Telenor Myanmar and Ooredoo Myanmar have been cleared to use 2x10MHz of 1800-MHz spectrum allocated under a 12 year license.

Operators will be required to pay an $80 million usage fee, the ministry’s Posts and Telecommunications Department has revealed.

State-owned MPT has announced that with the approval the operator will be expanding its network to 4G, starting with the cities of Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon, and Mandalay. The operator will offer customers the ability to swap their existing 2G and 3G SIMs to a 4G SIM free of charge.

MPT has teamed up with KDDI and Sumitomo for its mobile operations as part of the liberalization of Myanmar’s telecoms sector.

Telenor Myanmar and Ooredoo Myanmar will meanwhile be able to use the spectrum to expand their respective 4G operations to more cities and regions.

Telenor Myanmar launched 4G services in July last year, and now offers 4G in 19 cities. Ooredoo Myanmar launched 4G in May  in Yangon, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Taw, and has since expanded the network to the Magwe Region.