Telenor Myanmar won the bid for USF pilot project in Ann Township

Telenor Myanmar is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the tender to implement the Universal Service Fund (USF) pilot project in Ann Township, Rakhine State. Post and Telecommunications Department (PTD) under the Ministry of Transport and Communications has officially announced last week that Telenor Myanmar is one of the two winners of the tender for this World Bank-funded pilot project and won the bid for Lot 4 (Ann Township).

Photo Source – https://bit.ly/2JXCraI

As the winner of the bid, Telenor Myanmar will have to work on providing 2G/3G/4G connectivity within

the projected coverage in Ann Township. Telenor will continue to build out the network until 98% of the

population is reached which is approximately 101,000 people in the rural area of Ann township.

Photo Source – https://www.telenor.com.mm

“We are very much appreciated for winning this tender and we would like to thank Post and

Telecommunications Department for trusting us with this project. As committed since inception, Telenor

Myanmar is always trying relentlessly to expand and upgrade the network across all regions and states in

order to bring benefits to our customers in the country. Telenor has already built over 280 towers in

Rakhine State, serving nearly 90% of its population and with this USF pilot project, we will continue to

cover more population in Ann Township.,” said Sharad Mehrotra, CEO of Telenor Myanmar.

Photo Source – https://www.telenor.com.mm

This pilot project is the part of the Universal Service Fund (USF) which was drafted in 2018 by Post and

Telecommunications Department with the help of the World Bank. With the aim to fulfil basic telecoms

services in the public interest in any location by implementing universal service plans, Post and

Telecommunications Department called Request for Bids (RFBs) of this pilot project on November 9, 2018,

to four eligible bidders (four licensed telecommunications operators). The bidding lots are in four

townships; Hpasawng in Kayah State, Sidoktaya in Magway Region, Minbya and Ann in Rakhine State

where the telecom service coverage is less than 80% of the living population.

Photo Source – https://www.telenor.com.mm

In choosing the tender winners, Post and Telecommunications Department has evaluated the submitted

bids according to the World Bank Procurement Regulations as well as the Government’s Tender

Directive.Starting from 2017, Telenor Myanmar has contributed 2% of the relevant revenue to USF for

extending the basic telecommunications network to the unconnected areas of the country.

Telenor Myanmar officially launched its 4G/LTE services since June 2017 and at present, Telenor possesses

Myanmar’s best mobile 2G/3G/4G network with more than 8,600 sites nationwide with more than 100,000

points-of-sale, serving over 18 million customers across all states and regions.