Name : John Lancaster-Lennox
Nationality: British
Company : Nokia
Position : Head, Asia South
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MI: When was the first time you visit- ed Myanmar?
It was in 2012. I instantly realized how colorful the country was and the beauty it had. The pagodas were amazing too. With- in Myanmar, there are various groups with their own cultures, distinctly different from one another. Prior to that visit, I thought Myanmar would be quite similar to Thai- land. I was wrong.
MI: What is your impression of the country?
Yangon has changed from having little traf- fic to having significant amount of traffic jams almost every day. I guess its progres- sion. I see more international brands now. People are still traditional, each individual groups holding onto their own identities.
MI: What does Nokia intend to do in the country?
We want to establish a successful business here in Myanmar, while training the locals and improving the skillsets here. We want to bring telecommunications to the whole population. Everywhere in the world, tele- communications is the catalyst to devel- opment and the same is happening here in Myanmar.
MI: Nokia has been selected as Oore- doo partner to introduce 3G mobile services in Myanmar. Tell us more about that.
Yes, we are helping them deploy their net- works. When telecom towers are completed, Nokia deploy the equipment, network man- agement and operations management.
MI: How does working in Myanmar under the present business climate compare with other ASEAN coun- tries?
It is quite challenging, especially in terms of banking systems, etc., and the way to obtain visas, especially in getting multi entry visas. The processes and procedures are still bureaucratic; I understand there is a process for everything, people do realize it needs to be modernized over time.
Myanmar is a good country to work in. I per- sonally found no shortage of qualify individ- uals. Hanging onto them is difficult though.
MI: What is your opinion on competi- tiveness of mobile operators in Myan- mar?
There is no true competition yet. The mar- ket is just opening up and it is still in its ear- ly days. It is going to be exciting.
MI: What do you think of MPT’s (Myanmar Post and Telecom – in- cumbent government owned telecom company) current reforms and cooperation with Japan’s KDDI?
It is an excellent move. MPT needed a strong international partner. Otherwise, it will be swamped. It is better for the consumers. KDDI is a very strong international opera- tor. Very good choice.
MI: What types of new businesses you are seeing venturing into Myanmar right now?
I think ‘dot com’ explosion will come to Myanmar, through local content creation. I am also seeing a lot of activities in the travel industry and in oil and gas sector. In general as the country develops, there will be more international brands arriving here and more and more service industries will be there.
MI: What are the primary challenges of private telecom operators in Myan- mar?
The first would be getting a strong local workforce. The workforce is talented and willing to learn, but they need to be trained. That’s the investment that we need to make. Our workforce right now is 25% local. In a few years, we want to have 90% local work- force.
The second challenge would be health and safety standards. We follow international standards and not only our staff, but also our suppliers have to follow. The concept is new to a lot of people here; we see people painting by the roadside, without proper protection or warning setups. It is an edu- cation process.
MI: What are the challenges with the local workforce? How do you address these?
Normally, we choose the people from inter- national companies who come to work for Nokia. The situation now is such that, the local talent pool has no exposure to interna- tional companies. Some are shocked even to work in a challenging and at the same time, rewarding environment.
We have like more than 15 nationalities working in Nokia Myanmar office. We also work with Engineering council to tap on en- gineering graduates to train them from the start. It is finally a matter of discovering who is going to be enjoying in this international environment.
MI: For telecom service providers, what business opportunities do you see emerging right now in Myanmar?
The opportunities are enormous, including tower guys, construction, generator servic- ing, etc. We also need a school to train in health and safety aspects. There is also a need for a galvanizing facility for towers.
We have close to 40 local companies provid- ing supporting services to Nokia.
MI: What is next for Nokia in Myan- mar?
We will continue to work with Ooredoo, making their network stronger and stron- ger. We are also interested in working with MPT and KDDI.
MI: From a business perspective,
what do you feel are the biggest chal- lenges facing you and your company, in Myanmar, for the next 1-3 years?
They are
- Hiring and retaining local talent;
- Infrastructure, as we build net- works further and further deeper;
- Bringing international standards here and implementing them; and
- Evolution of laws.
MI: If you can suggest one policy change for the government, what would it be?
I would like the efficiency of the visa pro- cess, especially multi-entry visas, to be improved. Sometimes, it causes delays in business trips.
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