Ministry of Transport and Communication has granted the fourth telecommunication license to an operator, a joint venture between Vietnam’s telecom company, Viettel, and two local firms. The new operator is MNTC, Myanmar National Tele & Communications. The Viettel is holding 49% stake in the joint venture, while its local partners, Myanmar National Telecom Holding Public Limited (MNTH) and Star High Public Company Limited (Star High) will hold 23% and 28%, respectively.
For the 15-year license that can be renewed, MNTC has to pay the government $300 million as license fees and network fees. The amount is considerably lower compared to the license fees Telenor and Ooreedoo had to pay, $500 million for Telenor and $1 billion for Ooreedoo, as MNTC gets less market share.
At present, the three operators providing services in the country are Norway-based Telenor, Qatar-based Ooredoo and state-owned Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT). Viettel has said it plans to invest an estimated capital of $2 billion in MNTC.