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Myanmar: SingTel's next target

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In its next move for the Southeast Asian region, SingTel has set its eye on Myanmar, looking to reach the largely untapped mobile market.The telco giant has confirmed in a statement that is has submitted an expression of interest to the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar for a telecommunications service license, saying that it keeps an interest in "large, underpenetrated markets", but would be "financially disciplined in its evaluation of such opportunities"."The expression of interest is a preliminary step towards the tender of telco licenses, and we are waiting for further information," a spokesperson told Marketing.Chief executive officer Chua Sock Koong also recently told Bloomberg in an interview that gauging from experience in other emerging markets, the mobile solution appeared to be a more cost effective and quick solution to provide communications infrastructure to the masses, particularly in the rural areas."While the market potential is very attractive, we would need to understand what the terms of the license issuance would be," she said.SingTel currently owns stakes in the largest telecommunications firms in Asia Pacific, such as Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Thailand's Advanced Info Service (AIS), Australia's Optus, and India's Airtel.According to the Bloomberg article, SingTel faces competition for the two Myanmar licenses the government will award by June this year, with 91 groups in total also submitting expressions of interest.Aung Thura, chief strategist at Myanmar-based Ignite Marketing Communications said that at present there is a great need for quality telecom services in the country. He feels that the current lack of good telecom services is affecting the country's development."My biggest issue is the telecom service quality (or lack of) and related internet services not only in terms of speed but reliability. The clients and visitors that I meet also have similar complaints. It is an essential foundation for our country's development and I sincerely hope that only professional and customer oriented companies win the telecom bid and not some cheap unreliable provider," said Thura.At present, only 9% of Myanmar's 64 million population have handsets. Apart from the low mobile penetration, a lack of talent and data will also plague brands in general looking to move into the recently opened market.In Singapore, the telco faces a saturated consumer pool and has quickly evolved its strategy here, acquiring several multimedia sites last year and moving into the space.

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