Exclusive – Qatar telecoms firm Ooredoo in talks to sell its Myanmar unit – sources

SINGAPORE : Qatari telecommunications agency Ooredoo is in talks to promote its Myanmar unit in what would mark the exit of the nation’s final overseas telecoms operator, two individuals aware of the matter informed Reuters.

The individuals stated Doha-based Ooredoo has knowledgeable Myanmar’s Posts and Telecommunications Division (PTD), the nation’s regulator, of its intention to promote a unit that was Myanmar’s third-biggest operator with practically 15 million customers in 2020, earlier than the trade was disrupted by February 2021’s army coup.

The principle potential patrons for the corporate embody Myanmar conglomerate Younger Funding Group, Singapore-headquartered community infrastructure operator Campana Group, and telecoms firm SkyNet, one individual with direct data of the matter informed Reuters. Skynet is owned by Myanmar group Shwe Than Lwin.

The individuals stated talks with the three suitors haven’t but reached remaining levels.

Ooredoo didn’t instantly reply to emailed requests for remark.

Calls to a spokesman for the Myanmar junta, to the PTD, Skynet and Younger Funding Group weren’t answered. Campana Group stated it had no instant remark.

The sources, who declined to be named on account of confidentiality constraints, didn’t put a worth on the dimensions of the potential sale.

Reuters couldn’t instantly decide how a lot Ooredoo has invested in Myanmar. Ooredoo had 9 million clients in 2022, based on its earnings, down from 15 million in 2020, for which it reported income of about $330 million.

The telecoms sector in Myanmar has confronted elevated strain because the army seized energy in 2021, after beforehand having been one in every of Asia’s fastest-growing markets. Cell information stays shut down in a part of the nation, after nationwide restrictions on the web all through 2021.

Earlier this week, Myanmar’s central financial institution ordered home corporations and banks to droop and reschedule reimbursement of overseas loans.

Ooredoo is the final majority foreign-owned telecoms firm in Myanmar after Norway’s Telenor withdrew from the nation in March this 12 months in a departure mired in issue.

Telenor’s former unit within the nation is now majority-owned by Myanmar agency Shwe Byain Phyu, with a minority stake bought by Lebanese funding agency M1.

Different telecoms service suppliers within the nation are MPT, a big state-backed operator, and Mytel, a enterprise between Myanmar’s military and Viettel, owned by Vietnam’s defence ministry.

Telenor informed Reuters in 2021 it needed to promote its operations to keep away from European Union sanctions after “continued strain” from the junta to activate intercept surveillance know-how.

Reuters reported in July 2021 {that a} confidential PTD order had been issued banning senior overseas telecoms executives from leaving the nation with out permission. The journey ban was adopted by a second order instructing telecoms companies to totally activate the intercept.