YANGON — Ooredoo officially launched the country’s first 4G mobile phone network on Saturday, becoming the first telco provider to offer the service to Myanmar consumers.
“We are very proud to deliver 4G service to Myanmar,” Ooredoo Myanmar chief executive Rene Meza, said at a Friday press conference, adding that the service would initially be available in around half of Yangon’s townships, most of Nay Pyi Taw and all of Mandalay.
“We look forward to expending our network as the government of Myanmar grants more spectrum,” Mr Meza said. “This is only the beginning. Our service will continue to expand and improve our time. We are ready to invest more, are looking forward to covering even more customers with faster speed,” he said.
Mr Meza said that as of April, the Ooredoo network provided mobile coverage to 85 percent of Myanmar’s population, with around a quarter of the telco’s 3400 mobile towers ready for the 4G upgrade.
All current Ooredoo subscribers would be able to access the 4G network on their existing SIM cards, he added.
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The Myanmar government launched an international tender process to grant two new telecom licenses in 2013, which were acquired by Norway’s Telenor and Qatar-based Ooredoo the following February.
Mobile phone usage has exploded in the two years since. Myanmar had an estimated 78 percent mobile penetration rate at the end of 2015.
