Mobile Phone Use Will Be ‘Rapid,’ Telenor License Winner Promises
One of the winning bidders for mobile telephone service licenses,
Telenor of Norway, has compared the challenge it faces in Burma with its
move into Pakistan, where it invested US$2 billion eight years ago.
Pakistan was like Burma then, with very lo
w mobile phone network
penetration, Telenor chief executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas told Bloomberg
business news agency.
“The growth factor will be pretty significant since we all start from
zero,” said Baksaas. “We’ll see a rapid buildup in penetration.”
At present only about one Burmese in 10 has a mobile phone, making
Burma one of the least wireless phone-connected countries in the world.
Telenor and the Qatar company Ooredoo were this week named by the
government as winners of a much anticipated bidding race for two
licenses.
As a backup, the France Telecom SA-Marubeni Corporation joint venture
bid has been named “in case one of the winners doesn’t fulfill final
requirements,” according to Bloomberg.
Singapore Bids to Join Oil, Gas Business Bonanza in Burma
A Singapore electronics company has formed a joint venture with
Burma’s Ruby Dragon firm to pursue business opportunities in the budding
oil and gas exploration and production industry.
WE Holdings and Ruby Dragon have formed WE Dragon Resources, which will be based in Singapore.
“[Burma] promises immense opportunities. The country has been
actively wooing foreign investors so as to unlock the potential of its
huge oil and gas reserves, and we believe that we are well-placed to
benefit from this trend,” WE Holdings said in a statement reported by
Singapore’s The Straits Times.
Although the venture will initially seek to acquire support service
contracts, it also hopes to eventually bid to acquire oil and gas
development projects, the newspaper reported.
Burma’s petroleum industry is expected to expand greatly once the
winners of bids for 30 offshore and onshore development blocks are
announced by the Ministry of Energy. The bids deadline was mid-June.
Thai Plan for Big Coal-Power Plant at Dawei Not Practical, Says Expert
Renewed proposals by Thailand to build a huge coal-burning power
station at Dawei on Burma’s southeast coast “lack practicality,” an
industry professional said.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) was reported
by Bangkok newspapers to want to build a 1,800-megawatt station
primarily to supply electricity to Thailand.
The Naypyidaw government has previously blocked Thai plans for a
4,000-megawatt coal-fueled plant at Dawei on environmental grounds.
“Apart from the issue of why Burma would agree to such a project to
feed Thailand’s power needs when Burma itself is desperately short of
electricity, there is the much bigger matter of fuel supply,” Collin
Reynolds, a power industry consultant in Bangkok, told The Irrawaddy.
“There is no coal in the Dawei area or on the Thai side of the
border. EGAT has proposed importing coal from Indonesia or Australia,
but to do this would involve transhipping it on the Gulf of Thailand and
transporting it overland or shipping by sea the long route via
Singapore. This all seems to lack practicality.”
Original Thai plans for a major oil processing port and
petrochemicals center at Dawei included a 4,000-megawatt coal-fueled
power station—more than Burma’s entire electricity generating capacity
at present.
Public opposition to coal burning plants within Thailand has thwarted efforts by EGAT to develop such projects at home.
Japanese Fined for Breaking Financial Sanctions Against Burma
A Japanese bank has been heavily fined by the United States for
engaging in financial transactions with Burma during the economic
sanctions era.
Burma was one of several countries alleged by the state of New York
to have been the subject of numerous illegal “laundering transactions”
between 2002 and 2007 by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
New York State’s Department of Financial Services fined the bank
US$250 million, claiming the value of illicit financial activity totaled
more than $100 billion.
The department alleged that the bank deliberately hid evidence of transactions with Burmese, Sudanese and Iranian customers.
New York State has not disclosed how much of the laundered finance
involved Burma, nor which businesses or individuals were involved.
Russia-Burma Military Cooperation ‘Stepped Up’ Following Moscow Visit
Burma and Russia have “stepped up” defense relations following a
visit to Moscow by senior Burmese military chiefs, Russian media said.
The Naypyidaw authorities have “showed interest in military-technical
cooperation with Moscow, particularly in Russian weaponry and training
specialists in military schools,” the Itar-Tass news agency said this
week following a visit to Russia by Burma’s Commander-in-Chief Min Aung
Hlaing and other senior officers.
The report did not say whether Burma plans to buy more weapons but
the agency noted that the Burmese military currently uses MiG-29 and
Mi-17 and Mi-24 aircraft.
“[Burma] has Russia’s Pechora air defence systems in its service
[and] at least 150 officers and students from [Burma] study at Russian
military schools,” said Itar-Tass.
China has been Burma’s main weapons supplier but military equipment
has also been bought in the past from Poland—before it joined the
European Union—along with Ukraine and Belarus.
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