Telenor provides 4G service in Myanmar's capital

Norway-based Telenor mobile operator launched on Thursday its first 4G service in Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw as an expansion of its network across the country.

Peter Furberg, Chief Executive Officer of Telenor Myanmar, said that Myanmar is experiencing an extensive growth of mobile subscriptions. Then 4G is relevant to the mass market with current handset capabilities. Telenor has plans to expand the 4G network to other cities of Myanmar and to introduce high definitions of voice and message services.

However, more spectrum are required to provide the 4G service all over the country. Thus the telecom operator is awaiting the government's spectrum auctions for the operators later this year.

At present, the Telenor Myanmar is providing 2G and 3G services to more than 16 million users across the country with the use of more than 5,800 towers with spectrum allocations of 900 MHz and 2100 MHz. It has targeted to expand the towers to reach 7,000 by the end of this year.

Telenor, one of the two foreign telecom operators , was awarded the 15-year service licenses in 2014. It announced coverage of 90 percent of the country's population by its service within five years.

However, one of its counterparts, Qatar-based Ooredoo has provided 4G services since June.

Myanmar liberalized its telecom sector by granting service licenses to the two foreign operators in 2014.

Myanmar is the fourth fastest-growing mobile market in the world, according to the Ericsson's Mobility Report. Endit