As The Myanmar Times reported last week, the three consortiums in the running for the partnership had been told the announcement would be made on December 18.
MPT managing director U Aung Maw confirmed the delay on December 19 but said he had been instructed not to speak to the media on the matter and would not comment further.
Consortiums headed by France’s Orange Group, Japan’s KDDI and Singapore’s SingTel – which were beaten by Telenor and Ooredoo in a hotly contested licence auction in June – are being considered by the government.
KDDI leads a consortium with Japan’s Sumitomo and two local partners: Myanmar Information and Communication Technology Development Corporation and A1 Construction Company.
SingTel is in a consortium with KBZ Group and Myanmar Telephone Company. Orange is working with Marubeni Corporation of Japan.
A spokesperson for KDDI refused to comment on the delay, saying only that the timeline for the announcement was in the hands of MPT. Orange officials visiting Myanmar last week did not return a request for comment.
SingTel has offered only that the company “continues[s] to seek opportunities in Myanmar”, while German consulting firm Roland Berger, which is thought to be managing the process, could not be reached for comment.
The government invited the three consortiums to submit proposals for the partnership in early November. All three responded prior to the December 5 deadline. While the government has previously announced its intention to bring in a foreign partner, details of the process were not released to the public and were described by an official from KDDI as “confidential”.
The partnership is seen as an important step for MPT as it prepares to face new competition from Telenor and Ooredoo. Their entry would end the state-run operator’s decades-old stranglehold on the sector but neither the Norwegian or Qatari firm have received their operator licences.
Matchima Chanswangpuwana, head of communications at Telenor Myanmar, said in November that the company expects to sign by the end of the year.
source: The Myanmar Times
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