Ooredoo Myanmar reaches 500,000 LTE subs

Ooredoo Myanmar has signed up 500,000 LTE users since launching 4G services in May and is pushing ahead with the operator’s ambitious rollout plans.

The operator’s CEO Rene Meza told that the operator now has a total 4G population coverage of 4.6 million people in Yangong, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw.

The company is concentrating its 4G rollout efforts on urban areas. It has a target of covering half of Yangon’s townships, all of Mandalay and about 90% of Nay Pyi Taw.

Main rival Telenor Myanmar has been later to offer 4G. The operator launched in Nay Pyi Taw in July and is at the testing phase in Yangon and two other cities.

Telenor is also taking a different strategy of focusing its rollout efforts away from heavy usage areas to minimize the impact on existing 3G services.

Both Telenor and Ooredoo’s 4G networks are currently data-only, and neither operator currently charges a premium for 4G. Meza noted that 80% of the operator’s Myanmar customers are now using mobile data.

But both operators’ 4G ambitions will be dependent on the acquisition of more mobile spectrum. The government plans to auction 40 MHz in the 2600-MHz band in mid-October and to auction 1800-MHz spectrum by the end of the year.