Myanmar grants 4th telecom license to Vietnam’s Viettel

Yangon / AFP

Myanmar’s outgoing government granted the country’s fourth telecom licence to a joint venture owned by a Vietnamese operator and a local consortium that includes the military, state media reported on Saturday.
The deal comes days before Myanmar’s army-backed government is scheduled to cede power to a civilian administration led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), crowning her party’s long struggle against harsh junta rule.
Hanoi-based Viettel, run by the Vietnamese military, will own a 49 percent stake in the venture, with the rest going to 11 local firms and a company owned by the defence ministry, according to the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar.
“To give the public more choices in telecommunications and to increase the funds of the country, we carefully scrutinised and selected the fourth telecom operator of the country,” the paper quoted presidential advisor Saw Oo as saying.
Viettel operates in eight markets spanning Asia, Latin America and Africa, according to its website. The company could not be reached for comment.

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