Myanmar Finally sees Increased Competition in the Fibre Broadband Segment
Myanmar's political strife undoes years of growth in the mobile sector
Myanmar's telecom sector had enjoyed tremendous growth since competition was first introduced in 2015 - at least in the mobile and mobile broadband markets. But a series of troubling events and increased repression since the military retook power in a coup in 2021 has thrown the forecasts for future growth into considerable doubt. Even estimates about the current state of affairs in the telecom sector are full of uncertainty, with one of the major mobile operators announcing a rapid withdrawal from the country while most of the rest have fallen under the government's influence.
In the five years since telecom market liberalisation, both mobile and mobile broadband penetration grew from single digits to around 100% by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The global health crisis was the first major event to bring a halt to the market's climb, but that was only a minor blip compared to what was to come with Myanmar's second coup d'état in February 2021. Leading up to that point saw officials from the Ministry of Transport and Communications instruct telcos to install spyware in their networks, to give the army access to all private voice and data communications. The junta shut down access to the Internet for several long periods following the takeover, including for the entire month of April. Then, following the refusal of the country's two privately-owned mobile operators (Ooredoo and Telenor) to comply with the directive to install the surveillance software, executives from the two companies were barred from leaving the country and threatened with having their mobile licenses revoked. With personal safety and business operating conditions deteriorating badly, Telenor arranged a fire sale to Lebanon's M1 Group, effectively writing off its entire Myanmar venture.
The political, social, and economic unrest has continued over the last 12 months, involving multiple reports of violence and even mobile tower sites being taken out by anti-government protestors. Foreign investors are fleeing the country and the long-term outlook for its telecom sector is, at best, bleak.
Table of Contents
Key statistics- Regional Asia market comparison
- Market characteristics
- Market Leaders
- Market Challengers
- Market Emergents
- TMI vs GDP
- Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
- Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration
Country overview
- Telecommunications market
- Regulatory environment
- Regulatory authority
- Market liberalisation
- Mobile developments
Mobile market
- Mobile Broadband
- Mobile infrastructure
- Major mobile operators
Fixed broadband market
- Fixed Broadband Service Providers
- Fixed Wireless Broadband Service Providers
- Fixed-line broadband technologies
Fixed network market
- Digital economy
- e-Payments
- Digital media
Telecommunications infrastructure
- Fibre networks
- International infrastructure
- Smart Infrastructure
Appendix Historic data
- Glossary of abbreviations
- Related reports
List of Tables
- Table 1 Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities 2022 (e)
- Table 2 Mobile subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
- Table 3 Mobile broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
- Table 4 MPT subscribers 2011 2018
- Table 5 Ooredoo mobile subscribers 2014 2021
- Table 6 Ooredoo mobile subscribers by type 2014 2021
- Table 7 Ooredoo mobile financial data (QAR million) 2014 2021
- Table 8 Ooredoo mobile ARPU (QAR/month) 2014 2021
- Table 9 Telenor mobile subscribers 2014 2020
- Table 10 Telenor mobile ARPU (NOK/month) 2014 2020
- Table 11 Telenor financial data (NOK million) 2014 2020
- Table 12 Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration 2015 2027
- Table 13 Fixed-line subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
- Table 14 International internet bandwidth 2011 2018
- Table 15 Lit/Equipped International Bandwidth Capacity 2014 2018
- Table 16 Historic - mobile subscribers, penetration and annual change 1996 2011
- Table 17 Historic - Internet users and penetration 2005 2016
- Table 18 Historic - fixed-line subscribers, penetration, annual change 1996 2011
- Table 19 Historic - MPT subscribers 2008 2011
- Table 20 Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration 2008 2011
- Table 21 Historic - Internet household penetration 2003 2016
- Table 22 Historic - Proportion of households with a computer 2007 2017
- Table 23 Historic - International internet bandwidth 2000 2011
List of Charts
- Chart 1 Asia Telecoms Maturity Index Market Leaders
- Chart 2 Asia Telecoms Maturity Index Market Challengers
- Chart 3 Asia Telecoms Maturity Index Market Emergents
- Chart 4 Asia Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
- Chart 5 Asia Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
- Chart 6 Central Asia Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
- Chart 7 Central Asia Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
- Chart 8 Mobile subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
- Chart 9 Mobile broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
- Chart 10 Ooredoo mobile subscribers 2014 2021
- Chart 11 Ooredoo mobile financial data 2014 2021
- Chart 12 Ooredoo mobile ARPU 2014 2021
- Chart 13 Telenor mobile subscribers 2014 2020
- Chart 14 Telenor mobile ARPU 2014 2020
- Chart 15 Telenor financial data 2014 2020
- Chart 16 Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration 2015 2027
- Chart 17 Fixed-line subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
List of Exhibits
- Exhibit 1 Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Asia
- Exhibit 2 Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
- Exhibit 3 Asia Market Leaders and market developments
- Exhibit 4 Asia Market Challengers and market developments
- Exhibit 5 Asia Market Emergents and market developments
- Exhibit 6 Mobile operator by system launch
