MyTel, the fourth operator in Myanmar, launched service in capital city Nay Pyi Taw, the eastern Bago Region and Kayin State, with plans to target rural customers and compete on price, The Myanmar Times reported.

U Zaw Min Oo, chief external relations officer at MyTel said: “A key point of our launch plan has always been a focus on more rural areas and the provinces away from large cities like Yangon and Mandalay. We are excited to see what our superior technology, our 4G-capable network, and our commitment to empowering the people of Myanmar will do for the future of this country’s telecommunications market.”

It plans to expand coverage to all 15 states and regions next month, the newspaper reported.

In mid-February, MyTel signalled its readiness to launch commercial service by completing a ceremonial first call between government officials in the capital city and Vietnam. It is building out a 4G-only network and in 2017 said it aims to reach 90 per cent of the country’s population at launch. It opened branches across the country and hired about 2,000 people.

MyTel is a joint venture between a consortium of 11 local companies and Vietnam-based Viettel. It was awarded the country’s fourth mobile licence in January 2017 and received a nationwide telecommunications licence from the Ministry of Transport and Communications last month.

Together with military-backed Viettel, the operator said it would invest nearly $1.5 billion to deploy 7,200 base stations nationwide.

The operator connects to the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 submarine cable, owned by a consortium of international carriers, to give it sufficient international bandwidth, The Myanmar Times said.

MyTel enters a highly competitive mobile market where state-owned MPT maintained a 48 per cent market share at end-2017, followed by Telenor Myanmar (37 per cent) and Ooredoo Myanmar (14 per cent), latest data from GSMA Intelligence shows.