CHAPTER:2

2.1. Theory of consumer behavior and satisfaction

Consumer wants and needs

Demand is the economic principle that describes a consumer’s desire, willingness and ability to pay a price for a specific good or service. A firm in the market economy survives by producting goods that are in demand by consumers. A need is a consumer’s desire for a product’s or services specific benefit, where that be a functional or emotional. The emotional benefit tends to be a stronger driver for consumers, as functional benefits can easily copied by competitors.

Customer decision process: There is a five step process that consumers can go through in marking a purchase decision. These steps include:

 Need recognition  Information search  Evaluation of alternative  Purchase  Post-purchase

The customer decision process begins with need identification. Whether we act to resolve a particular problem depends upon two factors: the magnitude of the discrepancy between What we have and what we need and the importance of the problem. This involves the concept of consumer motivation, which is the internal drive consumers experience to fulfill conscious and unconscious wants and needs. Once the problem is recognized, it must be defined in such a way that the consumer can actually initiate the action that will bring about a relevant solution.

2.2: The four elements of the marketing mix The marketing mix and the 4ps of marketing are often used as synonyms for each other. in fact, they are not necessarily the same thing. “marketing mix” is a general phrase used To describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make in the whole process of bringing a product or service to market. The 4ps is one way-probably the best- know way of defining the marking mix.

Figure1: the four elements of the marketing mix Product Distribution

QualityT Distribution channel Featureh Distribution area Brande Point of sale Packaging Warehouse Size4 Means of the transport Warrantyp Afters sales Marketing

T mix Priceh Communication e Tariff Advertising Sale4 Sales force Discountp Sale promotion Credits terms Public relation Free advertising a r e : product/service. Place. Price. Promotion. A good way to understand the 4ps is by the questions that you need to defines your marketing mix. Here are some question that will help you understand and define each of the four elements:

1.product: The term “product” is defined as a anything either tangible or intangible, offered by the firm: as a solution to the needs and wants of the consumer: something that is profitable or Potentially profitable: and a goods or service that meets the requirements of the various governing offices or society. The two most common ways that products can differentiate are:  Consumer goods versus industrial goods and  Goods products (i.e durables and non-durables)versus service products Intangible products are service-based, such as the tourism industry, the hotel industry and the final industry. Tangible products are those that have an independent physical existence. Typical example of mass-product,tangible object are automobile and the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service is a computer operating system.

2.placement: product distribution (or placement)is the process of making a product or service accessible for use or consumption by a consumer or business user, using direct indirect means with intermediaries.

Distribution types  Intensive distribution means the producer’s products are stocked in the majority of outlets. This strategy is common for basic supplies, snack food, magazine and soft drink beverages.  Selective distribution means that the producer relies on a few intermediaries to carry their product. This strategy is commonly observed for more specialized goods that are carried through specialist dealers, for example, brands of craft tools or large appliances.  Exclusive distribution mean that the producer selects only very few intermediaries. exclusive distribution is often characterized by exclusive dealing where the-re-seller carries only that producer’s products to the exclusion of all others. This strategy is typical of luxury goods retailers such as Gucci.

The decision regarding how to distribution a product has, as its foundation, basic economic concepts, such as utility. Utility represents the advantage or fulfillment receives from consuming a good or service. Understanding the utility a consumer expects to receives from consuming a good or service. Understanding the utility a consumer expects to receive from product being offered can lead marketers to the correct distribution strategy.

3.promotion: The three basic objectives of promotion are:  To present product information to targeted consumers and business customers.  To increase demand among the target market  To differentiate a product and create a brand identity.

A marketer may use advertising, public relations, personal, direct marketing and sales promotion to achieve these objective. A promotional plan can have a wide range of objective, including: sales increases, news product acceptance, creation of brand equity, posting, competitive retaliations, or creation of a corporate image.

4.price: The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. The concept of value, which is the perceived utility a customer will receive from a product. Adjusting the prince has profound impact on the marketing strategy and depending on the price elasticity of the product, often it will affect the demand and sales as well. The marker should set a price that complements the other elements of the marketing mix. A well chosen price should (a) ensure survival (b) increase profit (c) generate sales (d) gain market share and establish an appropriate image.

2.2: The Concept and Theory of Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior is the study of how individual, group and organization select, buy, use and dispose of good, service, ideas or experience to satisfy there are need and wants. Masters must fully understand both the theory and reality of consumer behavior. A consumer’s buying behavior is influenced by culture, social, personal factors, of these: culture factors exert the broadest and deepest influence.

The 4 factors influencing consumer behavior

Find out what are the factors influencing consumer behavior, how they work and how to better understand them in order to better meet consumers’ expectations and improve your marketing strategy. There are 4 main types of factors influencing consumer behavior: cultural factor, social factors, personal factors and psychological factors.

Table 2: The 4 factors influencing consumer behavior

Culture Social Personal psychology

*Culture *Group *Age *Motivation

*Subculture *Family *occupation *perception buyer *Social Class *Status *Economic *Learning

*Lifestyle *Beliefs

*personal

1. Cultural factors

Cultural factors are coming the different components related to culture or cultural environment from which the consumer belong-culture and social environment.

Culture is crucial when it comes to influenced by his family, his cultural environment or society that will “teach” him values, preferences as well as common behaviors to their own culture. For a brand, it is important to understand and take into account the culture factors inherent to each market or to each situation in order to adapt its product and its marketing strategy. As these will play a role in the perception, habits, behavior, or expectations of consumers.

Sub-cultures:

A social is composed of several sub-cultures in which people can identify. Subculture are group of people who are share the same values based on a common or a similar lifestyle in general. Subcultures are nationalities, religions, ethnic group, age group, gender of the individual etc. The sub-culture are often considered by the brands for the segmentation of a market in order to adapt a product or a communication strategy to the values or the specific of this segment.

II. Social factors

Social factors are among the factors influencing consumer behavior significantly. They fall into three categories reference group, family and social roles and status.

Reference groups and membership groups: The membership group of an individual are social groups to which he belong and which will influence him. The membership groups are usually related to its social origin, age, place of residence, work, hobbies, leisure etc. the influence level may vary depending on individual and group but is generally observed common consumption trends to its among the members of a same group. The understanding of the specific features of each group allows brand to better target their advertising message. Within a reference group that influences the consumer buying behavior, several roles have been identified.

 The initiator: the person who suggests buying a product or service  The influence: The whose point of view or advice will influence the buying decision. It may be a person outside the group. But on which group members rely on.  The decision –maker: The person who will choose which product to buy. In general, Ii’s the consumer but in some cases its maybe another person. For example, the “leader of” a soccer supporters’ group that will define, for the whole group, which supporter’s acarf buy and bear during the next game.  The buyer: The person who will buy the product. Generally, this will be the final consumer.

III. Personal factor:

Decisions and buying behavior are obviously also influenced by the characteristics of each consumer. Age and way of life: A consume does not buy the product. Generally, this will be the final consumer.

Age and way of life: A consumer does not buy the some products or services at 20 or 70 years. His lifestyle, values, environment, activities, hobbies and consumer habits evolve throughout his life. For example, during his life, a consumer could change his diet from unhealthy product to a healthier diet, during mid-life with family before needing to follow a little later a low cholesterol diet to avoid health problems.

Purchasing power and revenue: The purchasing power of an individual will have, of couse, a decisive influence on his behavior and purchasing decisions on his income and his capital. This obviously affects what he can afford, his perspective on money and the level of importance of prince in his purchasing decisions. But it also plays a role in the kind of retail where he goes or the kind of brands he buys.

Lifestyle: the lifestyle of an individual includes all of its activities, interests, values and opinions. The lifestyle of a consumer will influence on his behavior and purchasing decisions, for example, a consumer with a healthy and balanced lifestyle will prefer to eat organic products and specific grocery stores, will do some jogging regularly ( and therefore will buy shoes, clothes and specific products ) etc.

Personally and self-concept: personality is the set of traits and specific characteristics of each individual. It is the product of the interaction of psychological and physiological characteristics of the individual and results in constant behaviors.

IV. Psychological factors

Among the factors influencing consumer behavior, psychological factors can be divided into 4 categories: motivation, perception, learning as well as beliefs and attitudes.

Motivation: Motivation is what will drive consumers to develop a purchasing behavior. It is the expression of a need is which became pressing enough to lead the consumer to want to satisfy it. It is usually working at a subconscious level and is often difficult to measure. Motivation is directly related to the need and is expressed in the same type of classification as defined in the stages of the consumer buying decision process. To increase sales and encourage consumers to purchase, brands should try to create, make conscious or reinforce a need in the consumer’s mind so that he develop s purchase motivation. He will be much more interested in considering and buy their products.

Perception: Perception is the process through which an individual selects, organizes and interprets the information he receives in order to something that makes sense. The perception of a situation at a given time may decide if and how the person will act. Each person faces every day tens of thousands of sensory stimuli. It would be impossible for the brain to process all consciously. That is why it focuses only on some of them. The perception mechanism of an individual is organized around three processes:

1.Selective Attention: The individual focus only on a few details or which he is subjected. the type of information or stimuli to which an individual is more sensitive depends on the person.

2.Selective Distortion: In many situations, two people are not going to interpret information or stimulus in the same way. Each individual will have a different perception based on his experiences, state of mind, beliefs and attitudes. Selective distortion leads people to situation in order to make them consistent with their beliefs and values.

3.Selective Retention: people do not retain all the information and stimuli they have been exposed to. Selective retention means what the individual will store and retain from a given situation or a particular stimulus. As for selective distortion, individuals tend to memorize information that will fit with their existing believes and perceptions.

Learning: Learning is through action, when we act, we learn. It implies a change in the behavior resulting from the experience. The learning change the behavior of an individual as he acquires information and experience. For example, if you are sick after drinking milk. You had a negative experience, you associate the milk with this state of discomfort and “learn” that you should not drink milk. Therefore, you don’t buy milk anymore. Rather, if you had a good experience with the product, you will have much more desire to buy it again next time.

Beliefs and attitudes: A belief is a conviction that an individual has on something. Through the experience he acquires, his learning and his external influence( family, friends, etc),he will develop beliefs that influence his buying behavior while an attitude can be defined as a feeling, an assessment of object or idea and the predisposition to act in certain way toward that object. Attitude allow the individual to develop a coherent behavior objects or ideas.

2.3: Theory of consumer satisfaction

1. Customer satisfaction

Whether the buyer is satisfied after a purchase depends on the offer’s performance in relationship to the buyer’s expectation and whether the buyer interprets any deviations between the two.7 In general, satisfaction is a person’s feeling of pleasure or disappointment that result from comparing a product’s perceived performance to expectation. If the performance falls short of expectations, the customer is dissatisfied. If performance matches expectations, the customer is satisfied: if it exceeds expectations, the customers is highly satisfied. 8 Customers has with the brand. Buyers from their expectation from past buying experience: Friends’ and associates’ advice: and marketers’ and competitors’ information and promises. If marketers raise expectations too high, the buyer is likely to be disappointed. However, if the company sets expectation too low, it won’t attract enough buyers (although it will satisfy those who do buy).10 some of day’s most successful companies are raising expectation and delivering performance to match. Korean automaker Kia has been successful in the U.S.A. market by offering low-priced, high-quality cars reliable enough to be backed by 10 years warranties.

However, high customer satisfaction is not the ultimate goal. If the company increase customer satisfaction by lowering its price or increasing its services, the result may be lower profits. The company might be able to increase its profitability by mean other than in creased satisfaction (for example, by improving manufacturing processes).also, the company has many stakeholders, including employees, dealers, suppliers and stockholder. Spending more to increase customer satisfaction might divert funds from increasing the satisfaction of other “partner” Ultimately, the company must try to deliver a high level of customer satisfaction subject to delivering acceptable levels of satisfaction to the other stakeholders, given its total resources.

Product and service quality:

Product and service quality satisfaction will also depend on product and service quality. What exactly is quality? Various experts have defined it as “fitness for us” “conformance to requirements” and “freedom from variation”. We will use the American society for Quality control’ customer-centered definition: Quality(or grade)is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. 20 the seller has delivered quality whenever the product or service meets or exceeds the customers expectation. It is important to distinguish between conformance quality. A Lexus provides higher performance quality than a Hyundai: The Lexus rides smoother, goes, faster and last longer. Yet both a Lexus and a Hyundai deliver the same conformance quality if all the units deliver their respective promised quality.

Customer perceived value:

Customer perceive value (CVP) is the different between the prospective customer’s evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alternatives (see figure 4.1).Total customer value is the perceived monetary value of the bundle of economic, functional and psychological benefits customers expect from a given market offering because of the product, service, personal and image involved. Total customer cost is the perceived bundle of costs that customers expect to incur in evaluating, obtaining, using and disposing of the given market offering, including monetary, time, energy and psychic costs. Suppose the buyer for a residential construction company wants to buy a tractor from either Caterpillar or Komatsu. After evaluating the two tractors, he decides that Caterpillar has greater product benefits, based on perceived reliability, durability, performance and resale value. He also decides that Caterpillar’s personal are more knowledgeable and perceives that the company will provide better service, such as maintenance. Finally, he place higher value on Caterpillar’s corporate image. He adds up all the benefits from these four sources-product, services, personal and image and perceives caterpillar as delivering greater customer benefit. The buyer also examines his total costs of transacting with Caterpillar versus Komatsu, including money plus the time, energy and psychic costs expended in product acquisition, usage, maintenance, ownership and disposal. Then the buyer compare Caterpillar’s total customer cost to its total customer benefit and Komatsu’s total customer cost to its total customer benefits. In the end, the buyer will from the source he thinks delivers the highest perceived value.

Influence of customer satisfaction: ICS for customer-centered, customer satisfaction is both a goal and a marketing tool. Companies needs to especially concerned their customer satisfaction level today the internet provides a tool for consumers to quickly spread both good and bad word of mouth to the rest of the world. Some customer set up their own web sites to air grievances and galvanizes protest, targeting high-profit branch such as United Airline, Home Depot and Mercedes Benz. Customer complaints- some companies think they are getting a sense of customer satisfaction by tallying complaints but studies show that while customers are dissatisfied with their purchase about 25 percent of the time, only about 5 percent complain. The other 95 percent either feel complaining is not worth the effort or don’t know how or know to complain. They just stop buying.

Theory of Literature Review

2.4: background of Telecom in Myanmar

Background Myanmar has the unique distinction of being the first country in the world where the number of mobile subscribers exceeds those on the fixed line network. A similar trends been observed in many countries in the last five years or so but in Myanmar this happened as early as in 1993. Sadly enough, for Myanmar, there have been other reasons behind this trend apart from the rapid advances in telecommunication technology and economics. The long civil war of the 1970 almost completely destroyed the existing small fixed line network and made the replacement or augmentation of the fixed line network virtually impossible. The challenges of logistics and cost were huge. Mobile technologies came to Myanmar’s rescue, in a manner of speaking, since rollouts were much cheaper than fixed line networks as well as less time consuming and as extensive digging for fixed line networks was no longer necessary.

Myanmar also recognized early that it would need private funding to augment the spare resources of the government and was quick to initiate extensive liberalization of all its telecom markets. The country also allows both local and foreign private investment, although the latter must not exceed 49 percent. Today, almost all its market segment including fixed lines, mobile phone, internet etc. have several player that complete with each other. The market has seen dramatic growth in most segments, especially in the mobile phone sector. But, problem remain. The benefits of competing in the market, for example, lower prince, despite being clearly visible , could have been much higher if the experience of some other countries-e.g. india is any indication. Largely, these relate to the fact the regulatory framework necessary for a manifestly comprehensive transformation of the telecommunication industry was, in many cases, incomplete or even missing.

2.5: The consumer behavior of mobile telecommunication subscription in Myanmar

Mobile telecommunication plays an important role in increasing business productivities, facilitating business interactions and improving economic efficiency in developing countries consumers and business interactions and improving economic efficiency in developing countries consumes and business have found mobile telephone technology to be a value addition to their lifestyle and to create a significant increase in their welfares. In Asia pacific, mobile industry has a profound collateral impact on society though communication efficiency, productivity efficiency and knowledge efficiency. It has also been linked to the social initiatives to improve the quality and delivery of public sector services such as natural disaster assistance, mobile health, welfare distribution and public safety.

Mobile telecommunication has significantly growth in Myanmar and by 2011 there were nine big mobile service carriers in the country. In 2008 87% of the population had access to mobile telecommunication network, as reported by the Ministry of post and Telecommunication of Myanmar(MPTC) some set up their networks only in urban areas or cities and only few have expanded mobile networks in some rural areas. There are many providers, yet consumers satisfy with any carrier. Switching from one carrier to another and subscribing few different operators at the same time are really popular in the country. It is not uncommon to hold three mobile handset in Myanmar, while some handsets can be used as dual SIM at the same time 1. Furthermore, Myanmar has been know one of the countries with widely mobile access with 131% of mobile service penetration in 2012 as compared to only 4% of fixed line service penetration while may incumbents held small market shares or had to merge with other carries, reported MPTC. Unbalance between seniority and market share could be resulted from competitive advantage of each carrier to satisfy consumers ‘demands and requirement. Interestingly, metfone announced itself to be the biggest supplier in mobile network coverage up to 98% of population by 2012 while others hold much smaller seize of network. Additionally, this big mobile operator has provided its customers with the most frequently competitive promotion since its first startup with the exclusive right to install fiber optic cable. These factors are some different points between successful and not-yet successful carrier to examine the strengths and weaknesses of others within the sector to improve their competitive strategies. The core objective of this paper is to explore the most prioritized diffusion and motivational factors, based on consumer ‘perspective. It also aims to present barriers and requirement of mobile telecommunication in Myanmar from consumers ‘points of views measured by using the integrated research model of theory of planned behavior and some essential factors of diffusion of innovation factors or requirement with highest priority are considered competitive advantage of carriers with hug market shares and loopholes/barriers of not-yet-successful mobile carriers to take actions. With lessons learnt from consumers ‘perspectives, each carriers can provide a more efficient operation to increase the total surplus of both suppliers and consumers, to improve market efficiency and to reduce digital divide. Consumes ‘preferences on any product and service are constantly changing, so consumer behavior can describe how consumers make a decision about whether or not to purchase one good or service. In the book, consumer behavior ,the three steps of decision-making include repurchase one good or service. In the book, consu- mer behavior, the three steps of decision-making include repurchase process, purchase process and post-purchase processes. And indicates behavioral choices are influenced by both internal and external influences. Consumer behavior has been studied by many researchers with different methodologies and theories in order to measure the adoption, satisfaction, beliefs, or behavioral intention of an individual’s decision on new innovations or news products.

The study suggests that intentions to take an action are influenced by four main factors, three of which are adopted from the theory of planned behavior. They include attitude towards behavior, perceived behavioral control, subject norms and the promotion item. The attitude towards behavior indicates an individual’s positive or negative feeling about their behavior and is composed of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, compatibility and price plan. The perceived behavioral control is an individual’s adoption of new ideas that one can control a particular behavior, technologies, opportunity and network externality network effects resulted from change of the value of product or network to other users after a number of users of that product increase. Subjective norm can be in the form of social factors made of internal decision process which is influenced by external environment, social factors, family, reference groups , culture, and is used to examine how suppliers persuade consumers to purchase their products Dave, Fiona, Richard, & Kevin, 2006. This study covers five aspects of promotion: Advertising, personal selling, sale promotion, public relation and direct marketing. This model can measure the driving forces behind consumers “decision about whether or not to subscribe to innovation adoption of mobile telecommunication in Myanmar. These drivers will be presented to identify competitive advantages, weakness of all carriers and consumers needs.

2.6: Institutional Framework of the sector

The Ministry of the posts and Telecommunication of Myanmar is in charge of all aspects relation

To the telecommunication in the country It not only regulates the behavior of other actors by being the policy maker, but it also is an active participant in provision of telecommunication services in the country either directly as a service provider as in its small fixed line business, or indirectly, as a partner of/to telecommunication companies. Customers cannot speak to their counterpart if they do not use the same service provider. A customer wishing to reach some on a different network must use the many telephone cafes in the country, which maintain separate connectivity to drivers operators and allow customers to use it to connect to customers on network that the they cannot otherwise reach from their own phones. The lack of effective interconnection between operators is thus both a hassle and an additional cost to the end user. Mobile telephones connectivity to the large majority of Myanmar subscribers. The four players in the market mentioned in the table about have delivered substantial competition and with that significantly lower prices, with the availability of prepaid cards, the service enables its users., Especially the young to budget usage much more effectively.

2.7: Electronic Infrastructure

The expansion of services in Myanmar will require better infrastructure, particularly in broadband telecommunications. Myanmar has the lowest broadband connectivity in the region apart from Myanmar. This issue needs to be addressed, given that there is empirical evidence that suggests that broadband connectivity is a major contributor to economic growth. Myanmar’s institutional and regulatory framework in the telecom sector is not conducive to attracting foreign investors. Consequently, telecommunications services have grown at a meager three percent annually over the past seven years, compare with eighty percent annual growth for tourism.

More worrying, Myanmar’s ICT infrastructure and connectivity are lagging behind those of other competing countries in Southeast Asia. Myanmar’s regulatory framework in telecommunications has been described as inconsistent and difficult to understand. A news regulatory body has been established as the supervisory authority in the sector. But influences from other government agencies may have an impact on it deliberation. A country-wide broadband strategy, combined with reduced regulatory and de facto limitations to foreign investment in the sector, may attract more investors. The adoption of a telecom law, in line with internationally accepted principles of telecom regulation and in line with Myanmar WTO obligations, would provide legal clarity for telecom providers. The activities of the regulator should be transparent and its technical ability enhanced.

2.8: Telecommunication service

International obligations Myanmar’s accession to the WTO set the ground for an open market policy for the telecommunications sector, based on foreign participation and market competition. Myanmar also committed to establish an efficient regulatory framework, headed by an independent regulator. Value-added telecommunication service, including mobile service, were immediately opened up to full foreign participation, Myanmar also agreed basis telecommuni - Cation to foreign ownership, although domestic participation of up to a maximum of 49 percent may be required. It agreed to regulate the sector according to the guideline of the WTO telecom reference paper, including though safeguards to prevent anti-competitive practices, non- discriminatory access to interconnection, transparency of interconnection arrangement, universal service, public availability of licensing criteria and establishment of an independent regulator.

2.9. Overview of Myanmar Profit and Economic Development

Background of Myanmar Country

East longitude 96 13'nd North Latitude 16 45'run through Nay Pyi Daw, the capital of Myanmar. The Myanmar Standard Time, taken as on East Longitude 97 30', is 6 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich meantime. The length of contiguous frontier is 6159 kilometers (3828 miles) and the coastline from the mouth of Naaf River to Kawthaung is 2228 kilometers (1385 miles). The total length of the Myanmar-Bangladesh boundary is 271 kilometers (168.7 miles). It consists of two parts, namely the Naaf River boundary 64 kilometers (39.5 miles) and the land boundary 208 kilometers (129.2 miles). The total length of Myanmar-China boundary is 2204 kilometers (1370 miles); Myanmar-Thailand 2107 kilometers (1309.8 miles); Myanmar-India 1338 kilometers (831.8 miles); and Myanmar-Laos 238 kilometers (147.9 miles).

The history of Myanmar (also known as Burma) covers the period from the time of first-known human settlements 13,000 years ago to the present day. The earliest inhabitants of recorded history were a Tibeto-Burman-speaking people who established the Pyu city-states ranged as far south as Pyay and adopted Theravada Buddhism.

Another group, the Bamar people, entered the upper Irrawaddy valley in the early 9th century. They went on to establish the Bagan Kingdom (1044–1287), the first-ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. The Burmese language and Burma culture slowly came to replace Pyu norms during this period. After the First Mongol invasion of Burma in 1287, several small kingdoms, of which the Kingdom of Ava, the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, the Kingdom of Mrauk U and the Shan States were principal powers, came to dominate the landscape, replete with ever shifting alliances and constant wars.

In the second half of the 16th century, the Taungoo Dynasty (1510–1752) reunified the country, and founded the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia for a brief period. Later Taungoo kings instituted several key administrative and economic reforms that gave rise to a smaller, more peaceful and prosperous kingdom in the 17th and early 18th centuries. In the second half of the 18th century, the Konbaung Dynasty (1752–1885) restored the kingdom, and continued the Taungoo reforms that increased central rule in peripheral regions and produced one of the most literate states in Asia. The dynasty also went to war with all its neighbours. The Anglo-Burmese wars (1824–85) eventually led to British colonial rule.

British rule brought several enduring social, economic, cultural and administrative changes that completely transformed the once-agrarian society. Most importantly, the British rule highlighted out-group differences among the country's myriad ethnic groups. Since independence in 1948, the country has been in one of the longest running civil wars that remains unresolved. The country was under military rule under various guises from 1962 to 2010, and in the process has become one of the least developed nations in the world.

2.10: Population of Myanmar

Myanmar Population 2016

Burma, or the Republic of the Union of Myanmar shortened to Myanmar, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. Myanmar is the 24th most populous country in the world, and the 40th largest country by area, with a 2014 estimated population of 53.7 million.

Myanmar Population 2014

All population figures of Myanmar/Burma are just rough estimates as the last partial census was conducted in 1983, and no trustworthy nationwide census has occurred since 1931. It's believed there are at least 300,000 refugees from Burma located along the Thai-Burma border, with many camps established in the 1980's. Illegal groups are not recognized as citizens in the country, and they have been relentlessly persecuted. This led to the expulsion of close to 300,000 Burmese Indians.

The country is very ethnically diverse with 135 ethnic groups recognized by the government. There are at least 108 ethnolinguistic groups in Myanmar. The Bamar account for around 68% of the population, followed by the Shan (10%), Kayin (7%), Rakhine (4%) and overseas Chinese (3%). Ethnic minorities in the country prefer to be called ethnic nationalities to fight against the proliferation of the dominant Bamar people. Other ethnic groups include the Mon (2%), Overseas Indians (2%) and the Kachin, Chin, Anglo-Indians, Nepali and Anglo-Burmese.

Table:3 Population of Myanmar

100% 98% 96% 94% Series 3 92% Column1 90% 50.4 88% 86% 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

2.11: Economic Development of Myanmar

The November 8, 2015 elections in Myanmar marked a historic milestone in the country’s political and economic transition that began in 2011. The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) swept into power, leading to the parliament’s election of Myanmar’s first civilian state leader in decades.

Myanmar launched fundamental political and economic reforms in 2011, aimed at increasing openness, empowerment and inclusion. The past years have seen a dramatic increase of political and civil liberties, along with new emerging challenges such as outbreaks of violence in minority ethnic areas.

There are now opportunities to further deepen reforms, create shared prosperity for all, and for the country to resume its place as one of the most dynamic economies in Asia.

As the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia, Myanmar has one of the lowest population densities in the region, with fertile lands, significant untapped agricultural potential, and a rich endowment of natural resources. Its geographic location at the intersection of China and India, two of the world’s most dynamic economies, makes it well positioned to resume its traditional role as a regional trading hub and a key supplier of minerals, natural gas and agricultural produce.

Economic growth in Myanmar eased to 7 percent in 2015/16 due to floods in July 2015, which affected some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country, causing inflationary pressures and a slowdown in new investments. Medium-term growth is projected to average 8.2 percent per year.

Poverty in Myanmar is unequally concentrated in rural areas, where poor people are relying on agricultural and casual employment for their livelihoods. A large number of households also lives near the poverty line and likely to be sensitive to economy-wide shocks. Since the majority of the poor are engaged in subsistence agriculture, they may be shielded from recent inflationary pressures but the urban poor are likely to be highly affected by recent bouts of food price inflation.

Among ASEAN countries, Myanmar has the lowest life expectancy and the second-highest rate of infant and child mortality. Just one-third of the population has access to the electricity grid and road density remains low at 219.8 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers of land area. With the liberalization of the telecommunications sector in 2013, mobile and internet penetration has increased significantly from less than 20% and 10% in 2014, to 60% and 25% respectively. Establishing a credible and consistent policy and regulatory environment in the telecommunications sector can help ensure steady private investments and growth. Since the transition, growth has accelerated buoyed by improved macroeconomic management, increased gas production and exports, and stronger performance in non-gas sectors as the economy opened up. Table:4GDP Growth of Myanmar

10 8 Series 1 6 Series 2 4 Series 3 2 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

2.12:History of Myanmar

Myanmar was ruled with an iron fist long before the current regime came to power. From the early 19th century until WWII, the insatiable machine that was the British Empire held sway over Burma. Before the British, there were the kings of old, who rose to power by eliminating rivals with claims to the throne. Tracing the conflicts back to the 9th century, we find the Himalayan Bamar people, who comprise two-thirds of the population, at war with the Tibetan Plateau’s Mon people. The fight went on for so long that by the time the Bamar came out on top, the two cultures had effectively merged.

______- ______

Source: world document https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Myanmar

The 11th-century Bamarking Anawrahta converted the land to Theravada Buddhism, and inaugurated what many consider to be its golden age. He used his war spoils to build the first temples at Bagan (Pagan). Stupa after stupa sprouted under successive kings, but the vast money and effort poured into their construction weakened the kingdom. Kublai Khan and his Mongol hordes swept through Bagan in 1287, hastening Myanmar’s decline into the dark ages.

British colonialism

There’s not much known about the centuries that followed. History picks up again with the arrival of the Europeans – first the Portuguese, in the 16th century, and then the British, who had already colonised India and were looking for more territory in the East. In three moves (1824, 1852 and 1885), the British took over all of Myanmar. The Burmese king and queen were exiled to India and their grand palace at Mandalay was looted and used as a barracks to quarter British and Indian troops.

The colonial era wrought great changes in Myanmar’s demographics and infrastructure. Large numbers of Indians were brought in to work as civil servants, and Chinese were encouraged to immigrate and stimulate trade. The British built railways and ports, and many British companies grew wealthy trading in teak and rice. Many Burmese were unhappy with the colonial status quo. A nationalist movement developed, and there were demonstrations, often led, in true Burmese fashion, by Buddhist monks. Two famous nationalist monks, U Ottama and U Wizaya, died in a British prison and are revered to this day.

WWII & early independence

During WWII, the Japanese, linked with the Burmese Independence Army (BIA), drove the British out of Myanmar and declared it an independent country. But the Japanese were able to maintain Burmese political support for only a short time before their harsh and arrogant conduct alienated the Burmese people. Towards the end of the war, the Burmese switched sides and fought with the Allies to drive out the Japanese.

Bogyoke Aung San emerged from the haze of war as the country’s natural leader. An early activist for nationalism, then defence minister in the Burma National Army, Aung San was the man to hold the country together through the transition to independence. When elections were held in 1947, Aung San’s party won an overwhelming majority. But before he could take office, he was assassinated by a rival, along with most of his cabinet. Independence followed in 1948, with Aung San’s protégé U Nu at the helm. Ethnic conflicts raged and chaos ensued.

Ne Win’s coup

In 1962 General Ne Win led a left-wing army takeover and set the country on the ‘Burmese Way to Socialism’. He nationalised everything, including retail shops, and quickly crippled the country’s economy. By 1987 it had reached a virtual standstill, and the long-suffering Burmese people decided they’d had enough of their incompetent government. In early 1988, they packed the streets and there were massive confrontations between pro-democracy demonstrators and the military that resulted in an estimated 3000 deaths over a six-week period. Once again, monks were at the helm. They turned their alms bowls upside down (the Buddhist symbol of condemnation) and insisted that Ne Win had to go. He finally did, in July 1988, but he retained a vestige of his old dictatorial power from behind the scenes.

The 1989 election

The shaken government quickly formed the Orwellian-sounding Slorc (State Law and Order Restoration Council), declared martial law and promised to hold democratic elections in May 1989. The opposition, led by Bogyoke Aung San’s charismatic daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, organised an opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). Around the same time, Slorc changed the country’s official name from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar, claiming ‘Burma’ was a vestige of European colonialism.

While the Burmese population rallied around the NLD, the Slorc grew increasingly nervous. It placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and postponed the election. In spite of this and other dirty tactics, the NLD won more than 85% of the vote. Sore losers, Slorc refused to allow the NLD to assume its parliamentary seats and arrested most of the party leadership. Aung San Suu Kyi: house arrest, release and election

Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and was finally released from house arrest in July 1995. She was arrested again in 2000 and held in her home until the UN brokered her unconditional release in May 2002. She was rearrested in May 2003 and released in November 2010 by the military authorities. During her arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi continually refused offers of freedom in exchange for exile from the country and, despite an ongoing debate in the pro-democracy movement over future strategy, her stature throughout Myanmar is as great as ever. In moves symbolic of the positive momentum in the country, in 2011 Suu Kyi left Yangon for the first time in eight years, and in May 2012 Suu Kyi entered the lower house of the Burmese parliament as an MP. Much more remains to be done, but the hope is that decades of isolation may be coming to an end.

Table 5 Myanmar’s economic over the past 8years

Category 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

GNIpercapital Ppp(current 799.5 1183.5 international$) Total 51 51.4 51.7 52.1 52.5 53 53.4 53.9 population (Millions) GDP(Millions 31.37 35.23 45.38 51.44 53.14 64.33 64.87 US$) GDP(Growth) 3.6 5.14 5.35 5.6 7.3 8.4 8.5 7.00 Annual %)

Current Myanmar Economic-ADB

Myanmar’s positive political developments and structural reform programs will help foster economic growth and investment, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report launched today.( 30 July 2016)

In its Asian Development Outlook 2016, ADB forecasts Myanmar’s economic growth to recover to 8.4% in fiscal year 2016 (ending 31 March 2017). The country’s economic growth eased to an estimated 7.2% last fiscal year due to widespread flooding and landslides. ADO is ADB’s flagship annual economic publication.

“Though economic reforms implemented since 2011 have had positive outcomes, Myanmar’s new government will face the challenges of advancing economic reform, addressing infrastructure and labor shortages, and making progress towards peace and social cohesion,” said Winfried Wicklein, ADB Country Director in Myanmar. “Moreover, intensified efforts are needed to connect and develop rural areas to improve access to markets and services, and to generate opportunities and jobs.” Foreign direct investment is expected to get a lift from the successful political transition following national elections in November 2015, with investment flowing into newly established special economic zones and rapidly expanding transport, telecommunications, and energy sectors.

Inflation will moderate as agricultural recovery from the floods brings down food prices. But it is estimated to remain high at 9.5% in FY2016, before declining to 8.5% in FY2017.

Risks to Myanmar’s economic outlook include thin external and fiscal buffers, the capacity of the government to maintain reform momentum, ethnic and sectarian tensions, and vulnerability to bad weather.

The ADO 2016 emphasizes that Myanmar’s transport infrastructure, after decades of under- investment, provides poor access to markets and services, perpetuates poverty and regional inequality, and hampers business development. ADB estimates that $60 billion is needed through 2030 to upgrade transport systems to a standard seen in other countries at a similar stage of development.

“This means increasing transport sector investments to the equivalent of 3% to 4% of gross domestic product from little more than 1% in recent years,” said Peter Brimble, ADB Deputy Country Director in Myanmar. “Private sector resources will need to be mobilized given the immense funding requirements.”

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region.

Table:5 Current Myanmar Economic

Selected Economic 2004 ADO Indicators(%)Myanmar ADO Update 2014 UPDATE 2014

GDP Growth 7-0 7.0 7.3 7.3

Inflation 3.5 4.4 3.5 4.0

Current Account 11.3 11.3 10.9 10.9 Balance (Share of GDP)

Source: ADB estimates

Myanmar’s positive political developments and structural reform programs will help foster economic growth and investment, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report launched today. In its Asian Development Outlook 2016, ADB forecasts Myanmar’s economic growth to recover to 8.4% in fiscal year 2016 (ending 31 March 2017). The country’s economic growth eased to an estimated 7.2% last fiscal year due to widespread flooding and landslides. ADO is ADB’s flagship annual economic publication.

“Though economic reforms implemented since 2011 have had positive outcomes, Myanmar’s new government will face the challenges of advancing economic reform, addressing infrastructure and labor shortages, and making progress towards peace and social cohesion,” said Winfried Wicklein, ADB Country Director in Myanmar. “Moreover, intensified efforts are needed to connect and develop rural areas to improve access to markets and services, and to generate opportunities and jobs.”

Foreign direct investment is expected to get a lift from the successful political transition following national elections in November 2015, with investment flowing into newly established special economic zones and rapidly expanding transport, telecommunications, and energy sectors.

Inflation will moderate as agricultural recovery from the floods brings down food prices. But it is estimated to remain high at 9.5% in FY2016, before declining to 8.5% in FY2017.

Risks to Myanmar’s economic outlook include thin external and fiscal buffers, the capacity of the government to maintain reform momentum, ethnic and sectarian tensions, and vulnerability to bad weather.

The ADO 2016 emphasizes that Myanmar’s transport infrastructure, after decades of under- investment, provides poor access to markets and services, perpetuates poverty and regional inequality, and hampers business development. ADB estimates that $60 billion is needed through 2030 to upgrade transport systems to a standard seen in other countries at a similar stage of development.

______http://www.lonelyplanet.com/myanmar-burma/history

“This means increasing transport sector investments to the equivalent of 3% to 4% of gross domestic product from little more than 1% in recent years,” said Peter Brimble, ADB Deputy Country Director in Myanmar. “Private sector resources will need to be mobilized given the immense funding requirements.”

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region.

2.12: overview of Telecommunication Industry In Myanmar. 2.4.1 The Definition of Telecommunication Telecommunication Refers to the exchange of information by electronic and electrical means over a significant distance. A complete telecommunication arrangement is made up of two or more stations equipped with transmitter and receiver devices. A single co-arrangement of transmitters and receivers, called a transceiver, may also be used in many telecommunication Stations. Telecommunication devices include telephone, telegraph, radio and microwave communication arrangements, fiber optics, satellites and internet. Telecommunication is also know as telecom.

 Techopedia explains Telecommunication Telecommunication is a universal tern that used for a vast range of information- transmitting technologies such as mobile phone, land lines, VoiP and broadcast networks. In Telecommunication, data is transmitted in the form of electrical signals know as carrier waves, which are modulated into analog or digital signals for transmitting information. Analog modulation such as that used in radio broadcasting is an amplitude modulation. Digital modulation is just an update form of this. Telecommunications and broadcasting are administered worldwide by an agency of the United Nation called the international Telecommunication Union(ITU). Most countries have their own agencies for enforcing telecommunications regulations.

 Background Telecom Industry In Myanmar

 The big change in Myanmar’s telecom sector has been the entry of two foreign operators in the local mobile market, joining the former monopoly operator, Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT). Buoyed by the success of the arrival of Qatar’s Ooredoo and Norway’s Telenor, by 2015 the government was looking to issue a fourth and final telecom licence.  Much work remains to be done however, with Myanmar being the last underdeveloped telecommunication markets in Asia. Despite the fresh new focus on mobile services and the exploding growth in that sector, by 2015 only a few people had access to a fixed telephone line. Although the first internet connections were established back in 2000, internet services in Myanmar still remain slow and unstable. Of course, as affordable mobile services are now becoming widely available from MPT, Ooredoo and Telenor the market is changing, especially with respect to internet access. Mobile penetration has risen from less than 3% in 2011 to over 70% in 2015.  As already indicated, major changes have been taking place in Myanmar’s telecom sector as the market undergoes a level of liberalisation. The initial round of reforms certainly happened quickly with the issuing of new telecom operating licences and the allowing of international companies to enter the market.  Myanmar’s telecom sector has been a major driving force behind a rise in the country’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2014/2015, with Telenor and Ooredoo investing in infrastructure, as well as fulfilling their fiscal obligations under the licensing agreements. In the first five months of the 2014/15 fiscal year, telecoms accounted for 31% of total FDI of US$3.32 billion, becoming the biggest single component in direct capital inflows, according to the Myanmar Investment Commission. The flow eased in the latter half of the year, but still attracted a quarter of all FDI during the year, ranking it second only to the energy sector.

Table 6 Myanmar Telecommunication profile 2015

Telephone-main lines use 584,000(2015)

Telephone-mobile cellular 20.5 Million (2015)

Telephone system General assessment: adequate fixed-line and or cellular service in Yangon and other provincial cities: mobile-cellular phone systems are widely used in urban areas to bypass deficiencies in the fixed-line network: mobile phone: mobile-phone coverage is rapidly expanding in rural areas Domestic:Fixed-line connectons stand at 4 per 100 persons: mobile-cellula usage, aided by competition among service providers is increasing rapidly and status at 92 per100 person. International: country code +959, adequate but expensive landline and cellular servinterice available to all countries from Yangon and major provincial cities: satellite earth station-1Intersputnink (India Ocean Region)(2015)

Broadcast media Mixture of state-owned, joint public- privately and owned broadcast media: 9 TV Broadcast stations with most operation on multiple channels, including 1 state-operated station broadcasting from multiple location, 6 stations either jointly operated or privately owned with some broadcasting from several locations and 2 TV relay station.

2.13: Ministry of Transport and Communications

Myanmar Posts and Telecommunication (abbreviated MPT)is a state owned enterprise in Myanmar under the supervision of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. MPT operates the country's postal system. Until 2013, it was also Myanmar's only telecommunications operator.

Telecommunications

Until 2013, MPT monopolised the mobile and landline phone communication, internet services. Telenor Group of Norwegian and Ooredoo of Qatar are granted licenses to operate nationwide network including mobile and internet for 15 years in 2013.

KDDI and Sumitomo Group of Japan and MPT signed in July 2014 to jointly operate mobile network for 10 years in Myanmar. Japan companies plan to invest US$2 billion for that joint- venture. MPT currently has more than 18 million subscribers.

Communication in Myanmar

Telecommunication networks

Previously, Myanmar Post and Telecommunication had a monopoly in the country. In 2013, the government started taking steps to open up the telecommunications market, issuing licenses to new service providers. In 2014, Qatar-based Ooredoo and Norwegian Telenor Group entered the market, resulting in the reduction of consumer prices and a rapid growth in the number of subscribers, as well as the expansion of the country's infrastructure. In November 2015, Ericsson named Myanmar the world's fourth fastest-growing mobile market. As of June 2015, Myanmar has a mobile phone penetration rate of 54.6%, up from less than 10% in 2012.

______

http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Myanmar-Burma-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Internet.html

"KDDI, Sumitomo ink deal with Myanmar telecom for mobile phone service". The Japan Times. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

"Japan's KDDI, Sumitomo eye US$2bil Myanmar telecom deal (17 July 2014)". The Star Online. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

2.14: Telephone system General assessment: meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government Domestic: system barely capable of providing basic service; cellular phone system is grossly underdeveloped with a subscribership base of less than 1 per 100 persons[needs update] International: country code - 95; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE 3 optical telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; satellite earth stations - 2, Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and ShinSat (2007)

Bids have been offered for two fresh telecom licenses by the Myanmar government. The deadline was set to be 8 February 2013. The licenses were expected to be issued in June and carry a contract duration of up to 20 years. Two more licenses were expected to be offered following this round of bidding.

According to government statistics, 5.4 million of Myanmar’s 60 million population had a mobile phone subscription at the end of 2012, giving the country a mobile penetration of 9 per cent.

According to official figures released in mid-2012, Myanmar had 857 base transceiver stations (BTS) for 1,654,667 local GSM mobile users, 188 BTSs for 225,617 local WCDMA mobile users, 366 BTSs for 633,569 local CDMA-450 mobile users, and 193 BTSs for 341,687 CDMA- 800 mobile users. Huawei who has built 40 percent of the towers and ZTE has built 60 percent in Myanmar, which amounts to 1500 across the country, said it has built the towers mostly in Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw.

The Myanmar Telecommunications Operator Tender Evaluation and Selection Committee selected Norwegian Telenor Group and Ooredoo of Qatar as winners of the bidding, for the two telecom licences issued by the government of Myanmar.[7] The licenses allow the operators to build and operate a nationwide wireless network for 15 years. Ooredoo began selling low-price SIM cards at a price of US$1.5 in Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw in August 2014. Prior to 2012, during military rule, SIM cards cost USD 1,500.

Media

Radio broadcast stations AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 3 (2015)

Television broadcast stations: 6 (2015)

Press

1. Kyehmon - state-run daily 2. The New Light of Myanmar (Burmese: Myanma A-lin) - English and Burmese language organ of SPDC 3. The Myanmar Times (Burmese: Myanma Taing) - private-run English-language weekly 4. Myanmar Business Today - the country's first and the only private-run business weekly

Television 1. MRTV state-run, operated by Myanmar Government - Broadcasts With DVB-T2 System. Including 14 TV Channels Burmese, Arakanese, Shan, Karen, Kachin, Kayah, Chin, Mon and English 2. MITV - Showing about Myanmar to around the World. 3. Myawady TV army-run network

Broadcasts 7 Free Digital Channel available in Naypyidaw, Yangon & Mandalay.

1. SKYNET Largest Pay TV Service In Myanmar. Providing 110 TV Channels (Local & International) Including 10 High Definition Channel. Broadcasts With DTH system on Apstar 7 Satellite. SKYNET Have Official Broadcaster To England Premier League, Spain LaLiga, Italy Serie-A, France League 1 In 2015/16 Season. 2. 4TV - Second Largest Pay TV Service In Myanmar. operated by Forever Group.

Providing Free to air Channels, Local & International Pay TV Channels, and High Definition Channels. 4TV Has Only Broadcasts 2 Way With DTH and DVB-T2 In Myanmar.

1. Democratic Voice of Burma - Activists from the 88 Generation launched it. Based in Norway, it makes both TV and Radio broadcasts

Radio

1. Radio Myanmar - state-run, operated by Myanmar TV and Radio Department 2. Thazin Radio - Military operated station 3. City FM - entertainment-based, operated by Yangon City Development Committee 4. Bagan FM 5. Cherry FM - Commercial station broadcasting music based programs to main cities 6. Mandalay FM 7. Padamyar FM 8. Pyinsawaddy FM 9. Shwe FM 10. Democratic Voice of Burma - opposition station based in Norway, broadcasts via shortwave

News agency

1. Myanmar News Agency (MNA) - state-run

Internet

Main article: Internet in Burma

The Myanmar Teleport (formerly Bagan Cybertech), Information Technology Central Services (ITCS),[10] and the state-owned Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT)[11] are two of the Internet service providers in Myanmar.[12][13] Internet cafés are common in the larger cities of the country. Satellite (VSAT) internet connection is also available from Skynet, a satellite television provider.

Government now allows unrestricted access to the Internet. Many people are using the internet freely, often with widely available smart phones.

According to MPT's official statistics as of July 2010, the country had over 400,000 Internet users (0.8% of the population) with the vast majority of the users located in the two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay.[14] More recent figures are hard to find, but the widespread use of smart phones and tablets with cellular modems on the 3G and 4G networks means that internet usage is likely to be far higher than the figures from 2010 indicate.

2.15: Growth of Mobile Operators in Myanmar

Competition in Myanmar’s telecoms industry is on the rise, with a new player set to enter the market as early as next year.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Myanmar’s telecommunications regulator, is expected to announce the results of its latest tender for a new nationwide telecommunications licence (NTL) before the end of the year, paving the way for a fourth provider to launch its services in early 2017.

Interest in the tender has been high, although the successful bidder will likely face stiff competition from the operators already serving Myanmar’s increasingly crowded mobile market.

Maturing market

The new operator will join Qatari-owned Ooredoo and Telenor of Norway, which were awarded NTLs in 2013, as well as the state-owned Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT).

A second local player, MecTel – which is owned by the military-run Myanmar Economic Corporation – has also been active in the market since 2013, albeit under a mobile virtual network operator licence.

According to the terms of the latest tender, the winning foreign bidder will team up with both a government stakeholder and a local consortium, Myanmar National Telecom, comprising 11 local companies and structured as a special purpose vehicle.

Despite being more complicated than previous tender rounds, the new requirements have seemingly done little to dampen international interest.

Officials announced in February that seven foreign firms had applied to participate in the venture: Singapore’s Singtel; Vietnam-based Viettel; China Telecom; France’s Free; the South African operator MTN; Hong Kong’s 1COM; and Beijing Xinwei. As with Telenor and Ooredoo, the new licence will be awarded for an initial term of 15 years, extendable for a further decade.

Competition on the rise

While Myanmar’s telecoms market remains relatively young, the newcomer nonetheless faces an increasingly competitive environment, with the two international service providers still striving to close the gap on MPT.

The state-owned entity’s subscriber base has remained largely static since mid-2015, when it counted around 18m subscribers. Telenor, however, looks to be gaining ground, having added 1.9m customers to its base in the last three months of 2015. This brings its total to almost 14m, up from 3.4m at year-end 2014.

Ooredoo is also building momentum, increasing its subscriber base by 1m in the fourth quarter of 2015. MecTel, meanwhile, had 3.8m customers on its books as of mid-2015.

Mobile penetration reached 63% in early 2016, up from 54.6% in late March 2015, but still well below the levels found in many other markets in the region.

Sachin Gupta, head of telecommunications research for Asia-Pacific at Nomura Securities in Singapore, said that while Myanmar’s telecoms market was maturing, it still held potential.

“It isn’t a greenfield business anymore,” Gupta told media in late January. “There is still money to be made, but you are competing with three entrenched operators.”

For their part, existing mobile operators have expressed fears that a new player could be given some competitive advantages, such as lower licence fees or more relaxed terms for the rollout of services – which could grant the new entrant a bigger slice of the more lucrative urban market.

Officials have sought to allay concerns, with a reassurance that providing coverage across the country, including rural areas, remains its primary target.

Potential for growth

In the meantime, operators are continuing to invest in their networks in a bid to expand coverage and services, with improvements to data, in particular, being given priority.

In March Ooredoo announced plans to spend $350m in 2016 on boosting download speeds and network reach, having channelled a similar level of capital into improving its operations last year.

The eventual launch of 4G services should stimulate further expansion, with increased take-up of smartphones playing a pivotal role in heightening demand. In a key move, the government pledged in November to release the necessary spectrum once service providers are ready to launch their next-generation networks. This was followed by an announcement in February that the MCIT plans to hold auctions for additional spectrum to accommodate greater data usage.

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2.16: Radio Station in Myanmar

Table :7 Radio Station in Myanmar

Frequency Station Notes

Radio stations in Bago [Pegu]

89.8 MHz Shwe FM

91.3 MHz Padamyar FM

92.5 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 2 kW

Radio stations in Bhamo

88.9 MHz Padamyar FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Bilin

89.5 MHz Shwe FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Dawei [Tavoy]

89.8 MHz Shwe FM Not yet confirmed.

91.0 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Gangaw

89.2 MHz FM Bagan 0.3 kW

Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Hakha & Falam (Kennedy Peak) 89.2 MHz FM Bagan Power: 1 kW

Not yet confirmed.

90.4 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 2 kW

Radio stations in Hpa-an

88.3 MHz Cherry FM Not yet confirmed.

89.8 MHz Shwe FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Hsipaw [Thibaw]

88.0 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 0.3 kW

89.8 MHz Cherry FM

Radio stations in Kanbalu [Kantbalu]

88.6 MHz Padamyar FM Not yet confirmed.

89.5 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 0.3 kW

Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Katha

88.9 MHz Padamyar FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Kawkareik

88.3 MHz Cherry FM

Radio stations in Kawthaung

89.8 MHz Shwe FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Kunlong

89.8 MHz Cherry FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Kyaikto

89.8 MHz Shwe FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Kyaingtong [Kengtung] 89.8 MHz Cherry FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Kyaunggon

88.9 MHz Pyinsawaddy FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Lashio

88.6 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

89.8 MHz Cherry FM

91.3 MHz Myanma Radio

Radio stations in Laukkaing

89.8 MHz Cherry FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Loikaw

89.5 MHz Cherry FM Not yet confirmed.

90.7 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 2 kW

Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Magwe [Magway] & Nyaung-U (Mount Popa

87.6 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

88.3 MHz FM Bagan Power: 2 kW

90.7 MHz Padamyar FM

91.9 MHz Shwe FM

93.1 MHz Cherry FM

94.3 MHz Myanma Radio

Radio stations in Mandalay & Sagaing

87.9 MHz Mandalay FM

88.6 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

88.9 MHz Padamyar FM 91.0 MHz Shwe FM

92.2 MHz Cherry FM

93.4 MHz FM Bagan Power: 2 kW

94.6 MHz Myanma Radio

Radio stations in Maungdaw

88.9 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 2 kW

Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Mawlamyine (Moulmein)

89.8 MHz Shwe FM Not yet confirmed.

91.3 MHz Myanma Radio Not yet confirmed.

92.5 MHz Padamyar FM

Radio stations in Minbu

89.8 MHz FM Bagan Power: 2 kW

Not yet confirmed.

92.5 MHz Myanma Radio Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Monywa

88.6 MHz Padamyar FM

Radio stations in Muse

89.5 MHz Cherry FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Myawaddy

89.0 MHz Myanma Radio

89.8 MHz Shwe FM

Radio stations in Myeik

89.8 MHz Shwe FM Not yet confirmed. Radio stations in Myitkyina

88.9 MHz Padamyar FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Nam Mar

88.9 MHz Padamyar FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Naypyidaw[Nay Pyi Taw] & Pyinmana

594 kHz Myanma Radio, National Service 2300-1700

Power: 200 kW.

*711 kHz Myanma Radio, 2nd Programme INACTIVE

Power: 400 kW

5915 kHz Myanma Radio Naypyidaw Service 2300-1700 in Minority Languages Power: 50 kW

87.6 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

88.3 MHz Mandalay FM

89.2 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 2 kW

Transmitter location: Tatkon, Naypyidaw.

89.5 MHz Padamyar FM

91.3 MHz Shwe FM

92.5 MHz Cherry FM

93.7 MHz FM Bagan Power: 2 kW

94.9 MHz Myanma Radio Transmitter location: Pyinmana.

Radio stations in Nyaunglaybin [Nyaunglebin]

88.3 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 2 kW

89.5 MHz Shwe FM

Radio stations in Pathein [Bassein] 89.5 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

Not yet confirmed.

91.3 MHz Cherry FM Not yet confirmed.

92.5 MHz Myanma Radio Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Pyay [Prome]

91.3 MHz Padamyar FM Not yet confirmed.

92.5 MHz Cherry FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Pyin-U-Lwin [Maymyo]

639 kHz Thazin Radio 2330-0200, 0430-0630, 1030-1500

Languages: Burmese, English.

6030 kHz Thazin Radio 2330-0200

Languages: Burmese, English.

Power: 100 kW.

6165 kHz Thazin Radio 2330-0130

Languages: Minority languages.

Power: 100 kW.

6165 kHz Thazin Radio 0930-1500

Languages: Burmese, English.

Power: 100 kW.

9460 kHz Thazin Radio 0430-0700

Languages: Burmese, English.

Power: 100 kW.

9590 kHz Thazin Radio 0130-0330, 0430-0830, 0930-1330

Languages: Minority languages. Power: 100 kW.

88.3 MHz Myanma Radio, National Service

89.5 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

89.8 MHz Cherry FM

Radio stations in Sittwe [Akyab]

88.9 MHz Pyinsawaddy FM Not yet confirmed.

89.8 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 2 kW

Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Tachilek [Tachileik]

89.0 MHz Myanma Radio, National Service

89.5 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

Not yet confirmed.

89.8 MHz Cherry FM

Radio stations in Taungdwingyi

88.3 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 2 kW

Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Taunggyi

*5770 Defence Forces Broadcasting Station INACTIVE kHz Power: 10 kW.

87.6 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

88.9 MHz Myanma Radio, National Service

89.8 MHz Cherry FM

91.0 MHz Shwe FM 92.2 MHz Padamyar FM

Radio stations in Taungoo

87.9 MHz Mandalay FM Not yet confirmed.

89.8 MHz Shwe FM Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Theinni [Hsenwi]

88.3 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 0.15 kW

Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Yanbye [Yangbye, Ramree]

89.2 MHz Myanma Radio Power: 2 kW

Not yet confirmed.

Radio stations in Yangon [Rangoon]

576 kHz Myanma Radio, National Service 2300-1700.

Power: 100 kW.

729 kHz Myanma Radio, Yangon Service in 2300/2330-1630 Minority Languages Power: 50 kW.

5985 kHz Myanma Radio, National Service 2300-0130, 1130-1700

Power: 50 kW.

7200 kHz Myanma Radio, Yangon Service 2300/2330-1315/1630v

Power: 50 kW.

9730 kHz Myanma Radio, National Service 0130-1130

Power: 50 kW.

87.6 MHz Myanma Radio, National Service 2300-1700

87.9 MHz Mandalay FM

88.2 MHz Padamyar FM 88.6 MHz Thazin FM Language: Burmese.

89.0 MHz City FM Operated by the Public Relations and Information Department of Yangon City Development Committee.

89.3 MHz Cherry FM

89.6 MHz Shwe FM Ex-90.0 & 90.1 MHz.

89.9 MHz FM Bagan Power: 5 kW.

Ex-93.4 MHz.

91.0 MHz Pyinsawaddy FM

Radio stations in Ye-U

88.3 MHz Myanma Radio

MHz Station transmitting from kW Web social Listen * = exact site

87.75 TV MYANMAR Yangon=Rangoon 1

87.90 Mandalay FM Yangon=Rangoon 50

88.20 Padamyar FM Yangon=Rangoon

88.60 Thazin FM Yangon=Rangoon

89.00 Yangon City FM Yangon/38th 50 Street *

89.30 Cherry FM Yangon=Rangoon

89.60 Shwe FM Yangon=Rangoon

89.90 Bagan FM Yangon=Rangoon

91.00 Pyinsawaddy FM Yangon/38th Street *

98.00 Myanmar Radio- Yangon=Rangoon National 100.00 Padaukmyay FM Yangon=Rangoon

104.00 Myanmar Radio- Yangon=Rangoon National

2.17: Internet service in Myanmar

The Internet in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) has been available since 2000 when the first Internet connections were established. Beginning in September 2011, the historically pervasive levels of Internet censorship in Burma were significantly reduced. Prior to September 2011 the military government worked aggressively to limit and control Internet access through software-based censorship, infrastructure and technical constraints, and laws and regulations with large fines and lengthy prison sentences for violators. In 2015, the internet users significantly increased to 12.6% with the introduction of faster mobile 3G internet by transnational telecommunication companies, Telenor Myanmar and Ooredoo Myanmar, and later joined by national Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT). Myanmar's top-level domain is '.mm'.

Internet Access and usage

Service providers, Internet cafés

Myanmar Teleport (formerly Bagan Cybertech), Yatanarpon Teleport, Information Technology Central Services (ITCS), Red Link Communications, satellite internet provider Skynet, Frontiir, the state-owned Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT) and Kinetic Myanmar Technology are the Internet service providers in Myanmar. Before the democratization in 2011, Internet cafés were common access center for internet users in the country and most use different pieces of software to bypass the government's proxy servers.The popularity of Internet cafés declined with the emergence of cheap mobile internet with the improvement in telecommunication infrastructure following the liberalization. However, they are still widely present, especially in Yangon and Mandalay and are used extensively for blogging and other activities that are difficult or impossible to conduct over mobile devices.

Internet penetration

Myanmar has a very low Internet penetration rate due to government restrictions on pricing and deliberate lack of facilities and infrastructure. According to World Internet Stats statistics as of June 2012, the country had over 534,930 Internet users (1.0% of the population) with the vast majority of the users hailing from the two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay.[16] Although 42 cities across the country have access to the Internet, the number of users outside Yangon and Mandalay is just over 10,000. In 2012, most of the country's 40,000 Internet connections were ADSL circuits, followed by dial-up, satellite terminal, and WiMax. MPT is also undertaking a trial of fibre-to-the-home in Mandalay, and plans to roll out a similar trial in Yangon. On 22 July 2015 the CEO of Telenor Myanmar announced that 55% of Telenor's 10 million mobile subscribers were data users, increasing the low estimate of internet users in Myanmar to at least 5.5 million. Internet World Statistics reported in Nov 2015 that penetration was 12.6%.

Blogging

An October 2010 survey found that blogging is the fastest growing type of Internet use in Myanmar, with a 25 percent increase from 2009. A non-scientific survey taken in 2009 found that:

 Blogs focus on entertainment (14%), technology, computers, and the Internet (17%), books and literature (9%), news (6%), hobbies and travel (6%), politics (5%), and religion (4%), among other topics;  52 percent of Burmese bloggers write from Burma and 48 percent write from abroad;  72% of bloggers are men and 27% are women;  77% of bloggers are single and 14% are married;  35 percent of bloggers are 26 to 30 years old and 29 percent are 21 to 25 years old;  80 percent blog in Burmese, while 8 percent blog in English, 10 percent write in both languages, and the rest use ethnic minority languages such as Kachin, Karen, and Chin.

Laws

Laws regulating the Internet include the Computer Science Development Law (1996), the Wide Area Network Order (2002), and the Electronic Transactions Law (2004), while the Printers and Publishers Registration Act (1962) regulates the media. These laws and associated regulations are broadly worded and open to arbitrary or selective interpretation and enforcement. The Electronic Transactions Law covers “any act detrimental to”—and specifically “receiving or sending and distributing any information relating to”—state security, law and order, community peace and tranquility, national solidarity, the national economy, or national culture. Violators face fines and prison terms of 7 to 15 years. The importing and use of a modem without official permission is banned, with penalties for violations of up to 15 years in prison. Harsh prison terms and selective enforcement encourages self-censorship. However, expression in online environments such as comment features where posters can remain anonymous remains relatively free.

While these laws are still in place, authorities have promised to adopt a media law that will put an end to censorship in 2012 and they then expect to revise or repeal the Electronic Act and emergency rule. As of January 2013 the new media law was not in place and there is some concern that the country could backslide and return to the repressive tendencies of the past.

Censorship circumvention The use of Internet censorship circumvention methods was officially banned by the military government; the Myanmar ISPs blocked many bypass and proxy websites, but were unable to block all circumvention methods. With the removal of blocking of web sites after 2012, the need for proxies was reduced and therefore the need to block them was also removed. Cyber cafes were required by law to keep records on their customers’ activities and provide police access to the records upon request. However, many cafes do not systematically enforce such monitoring, often assisting their users in circumventing censorship instead. In response the government increased surprise inspections of cyber cafes, cafes posted signs warning users not to visit certain websites. Licensing law instructed cyber cafes to install CCTV cameras and assign at least four security staff to monitor users.

Internet Usage and Population Statistics in Myanmar

Table:8 Internet Usage in Myanmar from 200-2015

Users Population % Pen. GDP p.c.* Usage Source YEAR

2000 1,000 54,021,571 0.002 % US$ N/A ITU

2008 40,000 47,758,181 0.1 % US$ 479 ITU.

2009 108,900 48,137,741 0.2 % US$ 459 ITU.

2010 110,000 53,414,374 0.2 % US$ 469 ITU.

2015 7,100,000 56,320,206 12.6 % US$ 469 IWS.

Note: Per Capita GDP in US dollars, source: International Monetary Fund.

Figure:2 Internet User in Asia,2015

100% 70 60 80% 50 Volume 60% 40 High 30 40% Low 20 20% Close 10 0% 0 Singapore Brunei Malasia Thailand Vietnam Philipines Indonesia

Figure:3 Internet penetration in Asia,2015 40.20% 100%

50% 40.20%

0% World Average Rest of World

2.18: Telecommunications Tourism In Myanmar

State-owned telecoms operator Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) announced the sale of its tourist SIMs on November 30, and Telenor Myanmar revealed a similar promotion on December 3.

MPT cards are now on offer at Yangon International Airport, and will be available later at hotels and other locations. Telenor said its SIMs will be sold at stores, airports and hotels, and through travel agents.

The competitor telecom have both put together deals where customers pay more than the usual K1500 for SIM cards for pre-loaded credit and a certain amount of free browsing on the internet.

MPT’s SIM comes pre-loaded with K5000 in credit and 1.5 gigabytes of free data, which both expire after 10 days. Telenor’s card, on the other hand, offers the same amount in credit, 1GB of free data and unlimited access to Facebook, according to the company. The Norwegian telecom’s tourist package lasts two weeks after customers make their first call on new SIMs.

The promotion is exclusively aimed at international customers. MPT commercial department general manager U Thein Hote said the SIMs are only for foreigners. Buying the cards – costing K10,000 for MPT’s option and K12,000 for Telenor’s – requires a passport.

Charges for local calls and texts, as well as internet, cost the same as on MPT’s Swe Thahar plan. Outgoing calls to local numbers on the Telenor SIM will run customers K25 per minute, while outgoing texts cost K15 each.

Telenor Myanmar chief marketing officer Joslin E Myrthong said in a statement that the company had a fully 3G network running on over 3800 sites, which enables the telco to offer a solid data experience in most of the country.

Internet access is important to those travelling to Myanmar, according to MPT. “Nowadays, the typical tourist is a heavy data user,” said MPT KDDI Summit Global Myanmar joint operations chief commercial officer Koichi Kawase in a statement. “With our preloaded SIM card, we offer a whole new experience to tourists.” Before the country’s telecoms overhaul, foreigners used to rent technology atYangon Internatio- nal Airport.

2.19: ASEAN ICT Master Plan 2015 with Policy Of ICT Development In Myanmar

As various free trade negotiations hit the headlines –AFTA, TPP, BTAs, etc – ASEAN seems to be finding a new lease of life. It already has well established institutions, and with Myanmar apparently on the road to reform there is a new feel good factor within the organization. It is therefore a good time to take a look at the ICT Masterplan 2015, launched January 2011.

ICT is seen as important in 4 specific ways: (i) as an engine of growth, (ii) to enhance the quality of life, (iii) contributing to ASEAN integration – without doubt infrastructure will play an important role here, and least convincingly because it is an oxymoron (iv) recognition for ASEAN as a global ICT hub. How can a barely integrated region of so many independent states ever be a “hub”? But substitute the word “nexus” and it becomes more meaningful. Just one example: a few more Internet Exchanges and most data traffic will be routed within the region thereby creating a network of mini-hubs or nodes, an infrastructure for virtual connectedness across the region to support local/regional trade and information exchange.

The framework presented in the Master plan hinges upon successful public-private partnerships, so the opportunities are there. Upon 3 “Foundations” (the priorities above) 3 “Pillars” are listed: (i) Economic Transformation, (ii) People Empowerment & Engagement, and (iii) Innovation. These are aspirational, the good intentions, the stuff of ASEAN past. The priorities are more down to earth, more doable, achievable and measurable. It is good that they are seen as the foundations that could at least see ASEAN emerge a relevant partner for investment.

Specifically, the Masterplan outlines 6 “Strategic Thrusts”, but they vary substantially in scope. No. 1 is Economic Transformation driven by (a) a pro-business focus including harmonization of ICT regulations and standards, and (b) PPP initiatives. These are broad and important aims, but the danger is that PPP becomes just a way for the state to abrogate responsibility for public oversight –and let’s face it, if financial regulators in the West can so easily lose contact with the realities of the marketplace, how much more so for ASEAN governments? No. 2 is People Engagement & Empowerment to be achieved by (a) reducing roaming charges, (b) lowering transaction costs through MRAs, (c) promoting e-services and building trust such as the adoption of two-factor authentication. “Empowerment” seems a rather over-blown term for these practical measures unless they are truly backed up by greater transparency and access to information.

No.3 is Innovation. The steps include familiar proposals such as the creation of Centres of Excellence, a digital content exchange, stronger IPRs, an ASEAN CEO forum, but perhaps the most significant is the mission of giving every child broadband access to nurture future generations. But innovation is a far more complex issue than can be addressed in these ways. At the entrepreneurial level it involves a culture of experimentation and risk-taking; at the institutional level it involves access to funding and to a community of like-minded enterprises; and at the national level it needs real leadership. No.4 is Infrastructure Development, including the completion of an ASEAN broadband corridor, an ASEAN Internet Exchange Network, agreed common security and data protection standards. The elephant in the room under this heading is a major structural impediment: the continued lack of genuine competition in the fixed line national backbone and local backhaul network markets.

No.5 is Human Capital Development. This is undoubtedly the weakest of the 6 strategic thrusts. The first proposal is a registry of ICT experts, never a good idea. Markets and networks are already adequate; a more serious problem is lack of due diligence when hiring staff and handing out contracts. Scholarships are always welcome, and never sufficient. Certification standards are not very practical when the levels of education and training are so variable. What is really missing is a commitment to educating the educators, improving syllabi, etc. But these are often acutely sensitive local issues. No.6 is Bridging the Digital Divide. It terms of bringing up the absolute level of access to ICTs, ASEAN countries have generally made much progress, although not as much as could have been achieved in many cases. The proposals range across universal access policies including schools to cross-cultural exchanges, training, collaboration between ministries, etc.

Another initiative recently announced is Narrowing the Development Gap. Perhaps for the first time realistically this idea has some legs.

2.20: background of ASEAN

At the Fourth ASEAN Summit in Singapore in January 1992, ASEAN initiated the ASEAN Free Trade Area, or AFTA, which laid out a comprehensive program of regional tariff reduction, to be carried out in phases through the year 2008. This deadline was subsequently moved forward to 2003. Over the course of the next several years, the program of tariff reductions was broadened and accelerated, and a host of "AFTA Plus" activities were initiated, including efforts to eliminate non-tariff barriers and quantitative restrictions, and harmonize customs nomenclature, valuation, and procedures, and develop common product certification standards. In addition, ASEAN later signed framework agreements for the intra-regional liberalization of trade in services, and for regional IPR cooperation. An industrial complementation scheme designed to encourage intra-regional investment was approved, and discussions were held on creating a free investment area within the region. During the financial crisis of 1997-98, ASEAN reaffirmed its commitment to AFTA, and as part of a series of "bold measures," agreed that the original six AFTA signatories would accelerate many planned tariff cuts by one year, to 2002 from 2003.

When the AFTA agreement was originally signed, ASEAN had six members (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand). Vietnam joined in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. All four countries were required to sign on to the AFTA agreement in order to join ASEAN, but were given longer time frames in which to meet AFTA's tariff reduction obligations.

The US-ASEAN Business Council℠ has long supported the ASEAN Free Trade Area and other initiatives to promote regional economic integration. The Council and its member companies have pointed out that with ten integrated markets with a population exceeding half a billion people, ASEAN will be much more attractive to large-scale direct investment than it would as a collection of relatively small, segmented markets.

Figure4: ASEAN Member Country

The Founding of ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand to promote political and economic cooperation and regional stability. Brunei joined in 1984, shortly after its independence from the United Kingdom, and Vietnam joined ASEAN as its seventh member in 1995. Laos and Burma were admitted into full membership in July 1997 as ASEAN celebrated its 30th anniversary. Cambodia became ASEAN’s tenth member in 1999.

The ASEAN Declaration in 1967, considered ASEAN’s founding document, formalized the principles of peace and cooperation to which ASEAN is dedicated. The ASEAN Charter entered into force on 15 December 2008. With the entry into force of the ASEAN Charter, ASEAN established its legal identity as an international organization and took a major step in its community-building process.

The ASEAN Community is comprised of three pillars, the Political-Security Community, Economic Community and Socio-Cultural Community. Each pillar has its own Blueprint approved at the summit level, and, together with the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Strategic Framework and IAI Work Plan Phase II (2009-2015), they form the Roadmap for and ASEAN Community 2009-2015.

ASEAN commands far greater influence on Asia-Pacific trade, political, and security issues than its members could achieve individually. This has driven ASEAN’s community building efforts. This work is based largely on consultation, consensus, and cooperation.

U.S. relations with ASEAN have been excellent since its inception. The United States became a Dialogue Partner country of ASEAN in 1977. Dialogue partners meet regularly with ASEAN at the working and senior levels to guide the development of our regional relations. In July 2009, Secretary Clinton signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) which has greatly enhanced U.S. political relations with ASEAN. Every year following the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, ASEAN holds its Post-Ministerial Conference (PMC) to which the Secretary of State is invited. In 1994, ASEAN took the lead in establishing the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which now has 27 members and meets each year at the ministerial level just after the PMC.

On November 15, 2009, President Obama met with ASEAN leaders in Singapore. This was the first meeting ever between a U.S. President and all ten ASEAN leaders. The President’s meeting has greatly advanced U.S. relations with ASEAN and the East Asia region. Nina Hachigian is the U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN.

Table 9: ASEAN E- Commerce

Member Electronic Privacy Cybercrime Content Domain Customer country Transaction Regulation Name Productin

Brunei Enacted None Enacted Enacted Enacted Partial

Darussalam

Cambodia Draft None Draft Draft Enacted None

Indonesia Enacted Partial Enacted Enacted Partical

Lao Enacted None None Enacted Partical Draft

Malasia Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted

Myanmar Enacted None Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted

Philippines Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted None Enacted

Singapore Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted

Thailand Enacted Partial Enacted Enacted Partial Enacted

Vietnan Enacted Partial Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted

ASEAN ICT Mater plan 2015

The ASEAN ICT Master plan is ASEAN needs an integrated and strategic approach to achieve hese outcomes. This ICT Master plan will provide aclear plan of action for the next five years to ensure that we achieve our intended objectives. It encapsulates the articulation of a single shared vision driven by 6 strategic thrusts to deliver 4 key out come.

1. ICT as a engine of growth for ASEAN countries. 2. Recognition for ASEAN as a global ICT hub. 3. Enhanced quality of for peoples of ASEAN. 4. Contribution towards ASEAN integration.

ICT will be a key enabler for ASEAN’s social and economic integration. By developing next generaion ICT infrastructure and skilled human capital, promoting content and innovative industries, as well as establishing an enabling policy environment ICT will help ASEAN to transform into a single market. In doing so, ASEAN will empower its communities and advance its status as an inclusive and vibrant ICT hub, making ASEAN an ideal region for economic activities.22

VISION

ICT will be a key enabler for ASEAN’s social and economic integration. Be developing next generation ICT infrastructure and skilled human capital, promoting content and innovative industries, as well as establishing an enabling policy and regulatory environment, ICT will help ASEAN transform into a single market. Such is envisioned towards achieving the E- ASEAN initiative. E- ASAEAN is a collective effort of Southeast nation to encourage and facilitate the growth of E-commerce, promote the utilization of ICT in social services and government operation and to narrow the digital within the region. In doing so, ASEAN will empower its communities and advance is status as an inclusive and vibrant ICT hub, making ASEAN and ideal region for economic activities.

STRATEGIC THUSTS

1. Economic transformation

2. People empowerment and engagement

3. Innovation

4. Infrastructure development

5. Human capital development

6. Bridging the digital divide

ICT in Asia

Short about ICT in Asia

Asia is not only the largest region by land mass: It is also the largest by population being home to approximately 60% of the world’ population (UN population Division 2014) It extends from relatively small countries surrounding the Black and Caspian sea in Central Asia, moving eastward to include Indonesia and Philippines. Given the absolute size, Asia-more than any other region varies broadly in terms of history, culture, language and ethnicity. Especially noteworthy for integration and sustaining ICT across several domains, including education, Asia also exhibits significant economic disparity. Given high levels of investment in their national standard in the field of ICT assisted instruction (OECD) Member states in Asia have matched or outperformed international standards in the field of ICT-assisted instruction (OECD,2011), while in other countries upgrades to national networks, teledensity improvement, enhanced national connectivity and the introduction of new internet provider (IP) deliver technologies are creating more favorable environment for the uptake of ICT. Nevertheless, much progress remains to be made and this is more true for some countries than others. In several least-developed countries (LDCS), internet-based forms of teaching and learning and the essential infrastructure to support it are limited except for but a privileged few, driving countries to consider other forms of ICT. Beyond sub-regional differences, the internal digital divide of developing countries has also increase significantly as urban centers quickly adopt ICT while it remains out of reach for rural and remote regions. Bearing these caveats in mind, ICT in education in Asia can be viewed from two very different perspectives. The first a development discourse that stresses the role of ICT in eliminating the digital divide by reaching the unreached and providing support to those who cannot access essential infrastructure, trained teachers and other quality educational resources. The second perspective adheres to an-e learning are evolving at a rapid pace to foster learner- centric education environments, which encourage collaboration, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. While countries are admittedly at different stages of integrating ICT in education, ultimately both perspectives will be increasingly relevant for countries in Asia.