Following months of negotiations, Japan's KDDI and Sumitomo have closed a deal partner with Myanmar Posts and Telecom (MPT) to provide fixed and mobile services in the emerging telecom market.
KDDI announced it has established a JV in Singapore with Sumitomo – KDDI Summit Global Singapore – which has itself established a Myanmar subsidiary. KDDI Summit Global Myanmar (KSGM) has now signed an agreement with MPT covering joint operations in the nation.
According to the announcement, the joint operations will provide quality mobile and fixed communications services in Myanmar via the upgrading telecom infrastructure.
The companies will also focus on providing customer service in call centers and shops and aim to contribute to the development of Myanmar's economy and its citizens' standard of living.
“Myanmar is experiencing a rapid move towards democracy and the market in mobile phones and fixed line communications is expected to grow dramatically in the future,” KDDI president Takashi Tanaka commented.
“Myanmar is experiencing a rapid move towards democracy and the market in mobile phones and fixed line communications is expected to grow dramatically in the future,”
Reutersreports that the three companies plan to invest around $2 billion over the next 10 years in the joint operations.
MPT is a state-run operator and is currently Myanmar's telecom regulator. But the government has announced plans to create a new regulator by 2015 as part of the liberalization of the nation's telecom sector, and leave MPT as one of four licensed telecom operators.
In response to this decision, MPT embarked on a search for international telco partners to help with the expansion. The company had settled on KDDI and Sumitomo back in January, but a complicated negotiation process delayed the formal agreement.
Recently-released statistics from Myanmar's telecom ministry show that following the liberalization of the sector, mobile teledensity has doubled in the past year, reaching a total penetration of 16%