Thailand is mulling providing Myanmar with cables that enable
international transmission of data as an alternative to its current sole
route via China, Thailand’s Minister of Information and Communication
Technology said.
In an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East
Asia in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyitaw, Anudith Nakornthap said the
international gateway – a facility for transmitting data between
domestic networks of one country and another — would be part of a
package of technological cooperation linked to the proposed Dawei deep
sea port in southern Myanmar.
Providing Myanmar with an additional gateway would make the country’s
communications less likely to be disrupted, a positive for both local
and incoming businesses, Mr. Anudith said.
“Right now, Myanmar uses the international gateway through China,” he
said. “If anything happened with the cable line or fiber, you cannot do
business. So we have to find the alternative, and one is through our
country.”
Mr. Anudith said that the whole area of the deep sea port would be
covered with next-generation broadband technology using high-capacity
fiber optic cables.
International telecommunications companies are rushing into Myanmar,
excited by the potential for expansion, given the very basic
connectivity in the country. There are 11 bidders for two telecom
licenses to be decided later this month, including Singapore
Telecommunciations Ltd and India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd.
While some analysts have suggested that Myanmar has the potential to
leapfrog over layers of technology as it catches up, possibly saving
money in the process, Mr. Anudith said he believed that it would be
better for Myanmar to graduate to 3G from 2G technology, rather than
moving on to 4G straightaway.
“When we talk about the wireless broadband technology, in my opinion,
3G is appropriate for Myanmar because of the capacity,” Mr. Anudith
said.
“You can say that if technology comes too fast, people will consume a
lot of data, and so the cost will be high. Right now, there’s 3G
generation in the whole world, so the devices and all the technology are
within the normal price.”
source: Wall Street Journal
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