Myanmar’s cellcos reach a combined 50m subs

Myanmar’s mobile operators – MPT, Ooredoo Myanmar and Telenor Myanmar – have announced they have reached a collective 50 million subscribers.

Extrapolating from the latest UN estimates, Worldometers projects that the total population of Myanmar is around 53.6 million, meaning the nation’s mobile penetration is approaching 100%.

In a joint statement announcing the milestone, the three operators committed to further develop their mobile networks, particularly in rural areas, and to provide the investment needed for the deployment of 4G infrastructure and services for the market.

The companies also agreed to abide by “sound price competition practices”, including by complying with recently imposed floor pricing on mobile offerings.

The Myanmar Post and Telecommunications Department’s pricing and tariff regulatory framework, introduced in June last year, prohibits behavior such as free distribution or sales of SIM cards and supplying services and handsets at below cost.

“MPT, Ooredoo and Telenor are firmly committed to competing based on the stated guidelines and the relevant laws of the country that as the telecommunications operators in Myanmar, they are bound to,” the statement reads.