Telenor officially launched its 4G Network in Nay Pyi Taw last month, becoming the second service provider to offer the latest technology. Ooredoo first brought 4G to the country in May and operates in Yangon, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Taw.
However, while Telenor is only currently available in the capital city, the Norwegian company is looking to “expand the services to other cities gradually,” according to CEO Petter Furberg. They plan to continue their 4G trials in Yangon, Mandalay and Muse. “To provide high speed 4G services all over the country, Telenor will need more spectrum auctions planned by the Union government later this year. Due to explosive growth of data and increasing data demand by the Myanmar people, we believe it is urgently required to expand our services to 4G all over Myanmar,” says Furberg.
Currently both telecom services are only offering 4G internet services, but Telenor hopes to expand those capabilities too.
“In the future, we will introduce other 4G services with high-definition voice and enriched messaging experience,” says Furberg.
But not all SIM cards are 4G capable. Earlier this year Telenor began offering a free-of-charge SIM card swap for customers looking to prepare for the eventual widespread use of Telenor’s 4G services.
Telenor Myanmar today serves its customers 2G and 3G services with spectrum allocations of 900 MHz and 2100 MHz. In South East Asia and Oceania, by the end of 2015, over 5 percent of all mobile subscriptions were 4G – a figure that is expected to increase to more than 40 percent in 2021, according to Ericsson Mobility Report 2016.
