Qatar-based Ooredoo has won one of the two licences made available to foreign telecom operators in the recent Myanmar government bid process, a statement said.

 

Ooredoo will apply all of its global and regional best practice and knowledge in Myanmar to deliver a next generation mobile network and a range of exciting, customer friendly and easy-to-use mobile services, the company said.

 

Financial details of the licence award have not been made known.

 

Ooredoo, formerly known as Qatar Telecom, is one of the largest and most dynamic communications businesses operating in emerging markets across the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia.

 

Listed on the Qatar Exchange and Abu Dhabi Exchange, it has a market capitalisation of $10.5 billion. It reported 2012 revenues of $9.3 billion with more than 91 million customers across its footprint, it said. 

 

Ooredoo has significant experience of developing, delivering and investing in communication services in the Asean region.  One of its biggest regional assets is Indosat, the Indonesian fixed and mobile communications services provider.  

 

Ooredoo’s investment is expected to generate a significant number of jobs and be the catalyst to several hundred thousand indirect jobs in roles such as sales, distribution, customer service and other related activities, it said.

 

Ooredoo will now enter into further negotiations with the government to agree upon the details of the licence.  As soon as these discussions are concluded satisfactorily, Ooredoo will implement its network roll-out strategy, it said.

 

Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Thani, chairman of Ooredoo, said, “We’re very excited about winning a licence in Myanmar and we look forward to working in partnership with the government of Myanmar to develop a world class next generation network.  Ooredoo will bring all of its experience of developing and delivering networks in the Asean region to Myanmar.  Ooredoo has been one of the fastest growing telecommunications companies over the past five years and our Asean operations have driven a significant part of that growth.  Myanmar will undoubtedly become a key market for Ooredoo as we build out our network and deliver easy-to-use, customer friendly and life-enhancing services to the people of Myanmar.”  - TradeArabia News Service