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China telecom giant completes Myanmar optical cable line
November 15, 2014, 3:23 pm

People wait to buy Ooredoo low-priced SIM card outside a SIM cards selling shop in Yangon, Myanmar, Aug. 4, 2014 [Xinhua]

People wait to buy Ooredoo low-priced SIM card outside a SIM cards selling shop in Yangon, Myanmar, Aug. 4, 2014 [Xinhua]

China Unicom, the nation’s second-largest mobile phone carrier, has completed an optical cable line providing Myanmar with cables that enable international transmission of data, the company announced Saturday.

The cable line, which runs from southwest China to the Myanmar coast, is going to significantly boost the country’s very basic telecom connectivity.

The 1,500-kilometer long optical cable line stretches from the Chinese province of Yunnan to the Myanmar Indian Ocean Ports, linking Ruili, Mandalay and Yangon along the way.

The project, designed to improve regional connectivity from one of the world’s least-connected countries, cost about $50 million.

The project was launched in 2011.

Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) is currently Myanmar’s sole telecoms operator as well as the industry regulator.

Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson said in 2012 that fewer than 4 percent of its 60 million people were connected.

China and Myanmar signed deals worth $7.8 billion for energy, agriculture, telecommunications, infrastructure and finance during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit earlier this week.

 

Source: Agencies