In the past , the Telecommunication information has been the greatest weakness of Myanmar. State-owned telecom operator, Myanmar Posts and Telecommu- nications (MPT), operated the whole system until 2013 when Government invited for- eign telecoms for bids for the right to oper- ate mobile networks. Qatar’s Ooredoo QSC and Norway’s Telenor AS A, won licenses to operate in the country and they have embarked on marketing campaigns that are visible across Myanmar. The cost of the SIM cards is now just about $1.5 but the cover- age is still not widespread in the country. MPT, Ooredoo and Telenor, which currently are the main operators of the country, are searching new customers and trying to lead the market. They have to compete in price as well as in providing quality services.
MPT has launched new service, Swe Thahar, and adopted new marketing strategies with help and advice from its partner, Japanese mobile carrier KDDI and trading house Sumitomo. Currently, MPT has competitive advantage in the market as its coverage is the best in the country while Telenor and Ooredoo are trying to expand their net- works. Besides its regular call and Internet plans, MPT provides promotions occasionally to all Swe Thahar users. But in comparison with Telenor and Ooredoo, MPT’s calls are more expensive and it does not provide Internet packages as best as foreign operators. To use international roaming overseas, additional charges are applicable when us- ing your phone from overseas countries. Here, the charges are different among the operators too.
While building stations and extending its network, Telenor Myanmar provides good service to its customers. Telenor’s prepaid SIM card allows you to call to both local and international operators. All the prepaid SIM cards are provided with additional bonus to use free 20 minutes to any network, free Facebook for 30 days, free Wikipedia and free Facebook Zero. Besides, when you top up for the first time, you are given bonuses that is free on net minutes (Telenor to Telenor), free MB for internet that are valid for 30 days from first top up date. For international call, the price varies from country to country and the list is provided in its Telenor Myanmar website and for International Roaming, Telenor has partners in various countries. Moreover Telenor offers a wide range of Inter- net packages; My Internet and Smart Internet for week and month packages.
Ooredoo, with strong marketing campaigns across Myanmar, provides excellent Internet service and plans to its customers. There are a lot of options to choose for week and month Internet packages. As a welcome gift, Ooredoo gives 1,500Ks of credit for our ser- vices and 10MB of Internet usage free and occasional promotions are offered to the customer. For international calls, the price ranges from 100 kyats to 3000 kyats de- pending on the country you call and SMS price is 125 kyats to every country. For Internet roaming, Ooredoo has connected to some countries. When you first top up your account within 3 days of your activation the top-up bonuses are offered for 30 days.
