[Myanmar] Burma To Privatize Telecom Industry

Burma plans to dismantle the state-owned Myanmar Posts and Telecommunication (MPT) and replace it with a private firm, according to a report by Xinhua. Citing local media, the report said that MPT will be reformed as the non-publicly-funded Myanmar Telecom, while the semi-official Yatanarpon Teleport will be merged into a new company to be called Yatanarpon Telecom. Two other private operators— possibly foreign owned—will also be allowed to offer a range of telecoms services. The move is part of an effort to raise user density to 75-80 percent by 2016, up from its current level of 5.6 percent.