Norway’s Telenor CEO Petter Furberg said the company would launch telecommunications ser- vices in Myanmar on Sept. 27, becoming the sec- ond foreign telecoms company to start operating in one of the world’s least connected nations.
SIM cards will go on sale in more than 1500 stores in Man- dalay city on the same day. At the press conference on Sept, 25 , Telenor customers’ advantages were highlighted, including best on voice quality, attractive talk and pay as you use mobile Internet pricing and a network offering both 3G and 2G. Opening the network in Mandalay is the first phase of a nationwide rollout which will move to the cities of Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon, before continuing to the towns, villages and rural regions of Myanmar in the coming weeks, months and years. Telenor is committed to bringing mobile connectivity to more than 90% of the country in the next five years and will be accessible to the mass market through 100,000 points of sale throughout Myanmar.
“Opening in Mandalay is a major milestone for Telenor Group and for Telenor in Myanmar. We made a commit- ment to launch affordable and accessible mobile services within 8 months of receiving our license. By opening up our network in Mandalay on Saturday we are taking the first step to contributing towards providing everyone in Myan- mar with high-quality connectivity. Within weeks we will be available in more than 12,000 outlets in the three main cit- ies,” says Petter Furberg, Telenor’s CEO in Myanmar.
Simultaneous to opening in Mandalay, Telenor is getting ready to expand the coverage and will be switching on Nay Pyi Taw the week after launch. This will be followed by Yan- gon roughly two weeks after Mandalay. Once the main three cities have been switched on, the network will continue to expand to other cities and regions as more towers are com- pleted. Time for absorbing customer feedback, learnings and acting on necessary network improvements has been between switching on each city.
Furberg adds: “Everyone at Telenor has made a great effort to ensure sustainable tower construction, the building of a strong local workforce, and the formation of a wide distri- bution network in order to be available on your doorstep. I am proud to say that all Telenor employees have been part of extensive testing of the network and we are confident that this effort has gone a long way to eliminate many of the is- sues commonly experienced at mobile network launches.”
Telenor’s mobile services and products, such as SIM cards and top-ups, are available in Mandalay from 11:00am on Saturday 27 September and can be purchased through more than 1500 Telenor branded outlets in the city. From this weekend onward, customers in Mandalay can also visit any of Telenor’s nine own shops to get connected..
U Khine Soe, Telenor’s Regional Head of Sales for North Myanmar, said: “We have sufficient amounts of SIM cards available so there is enough for everyone. A Telenor SIM card fits into any GSM phone so it is easy to get started and at affordable call rates, this truly is a mobile service for ev- eryone. All our distributors and shops selling Telenor prod- ucts are eager to get started this weekend.”