Looking back to where things started is the best way to realize changes or improvements over time and to make decisions for journey ahead.Several years ago, there was only one type of cell phone plan in Myanmar provided by only one cell phone provider that is Myanmar Post and Telecom (MPT) owned by Myanmar government. After the initiation of government reform to democracy in 2011, the telecom sector in the country has grown significantly. In 2013, Ooredoo and Telenor are the two international mobile operators to win among 91 of those bidding for two licenses according to Hellen Jameson, the author of the following article.http://interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/asia-edition-2017/myanmar-the-new-hotbed-for-satellite/
In 2016, there were four mobile operators in Myanmar, including MPT that was partnering with KDDI by then. Their main challenge has been limitation in mobile broadband and will continue to struggle until microfiber, domestic backhaul, and international IP transit capacity are improved. In addition, availability of mobile phones in rural areas of Myanmar are limited by reachability of the terrains due to lack of decent road infrastructure. Since the far and remote areas are difficult reach, installing cellular towers is a big challenge not only in terms of cost for material resources but also in terms of safety concerns for the labors.
An alternative solution for accessibility to connection to communicate in hard-to-reach rural areas of Myanmar suggested by the author is the use of satellite communication such as satellite phones or an earth station network to redistribute the satellite network to either landlines or cellular phones. Of course, popular cellular mobile phones are small, light, attractive, available in variety, and relatively cheaper than satellite phones in terms of plans. However, their connections are achieved by cellular towers on the ground and are limited by the coverage of the towers in a certain region. Satellite phones are bulky since they need more powerful transceiver to up and downlink directly from the satellite orbiting in space. In addition, the cost of satellite phones is higher due to the high expense of instrumentation. For connection with satellite phone, service provider would need to build or order a satellite with average cost of millions of dollars and to launch the satellite into proper orbit at a very high expense likely another millions of dollars. For more information about the difference between cellular mobile tower type communication and satellite communication, check out the following link:http://www.vizocomsat.com/blog/difference-cellular-satellite-communications/
In conclusion, the telecom sector in Myanmar has grown a lot and will keep grown due to the demand of connection by the public. The only unknown is how. There is no single right answer for this question since solutions implemented by other countries in the past may not work out the same for Myanmar or may not be the optimal solution for its situations. The government and service providers of Myanmar are to consider all the costs, demands, and interests of its own citizens as they approach to a thoughtful decision for the country.
