Myanmar’s fourth mobile operator, MyTel, set the ambitious target of reaching 90 per cent of the country’s population with 4G coverage when it officially launches in Q1 2018.

MyTel plans to invest nearly $1.5 billion to deploy 7,200 base stations to build out a 4G-only network, Vietnam News Service reported.

The operator is a joint venture between Vietnam’s Viettel, which is contributing 49 per cent of the network investment, and a consortium of local companies operating under the name Myanmar National Tele & Communications (MNTC).

Myanmar’s government awarded the country’s fourth mobile licence to the joint venture in January. Mytel will share infrastructure with state-backed MecTel, a little-known operator which started service in 2013. MyTel counts 2,000 employees in Myanmar.

The newcomer will enter a highly competitive mobile market with state-owned MPT maintaining a 44 per cent market share, followed by Telenor Myanmar with a 37 per cent share and Ooredoo Myanmar on 19 per cent, according to the latest data from GSMA Intelligence.

CSR programme
At the recent opening ceremony of its headquarters in Yangon, MyTel signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Education of Myanmar to provide internet service to more 1,350 schools, supply computers and develop education management software. The project is part of MyTel’s corporate social responsibility commitment to invest $80 million over the next 15 years in the country.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Viettel’s general director, said MyTel will apply roaming charges for Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar which are equivalent to domestic charges, Vietnam News Service reported.

Viettel currently operates in nine overseas markets.