Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/21218-consortium-provides-communications-infrastructure-in-myanmar

Consortium provides communications infrastructure in Myanmar

December 13, 2013

A consortium of companies consisting of Sumitomo Corp., NEC Corp. and NTT Communications Corp. has built communications infrastructure for the Republic of the Union of Myanmar that improves internet connectivity and supports greater economic development. The consortium is providing operational support for the communications infrastructure until mid-January 2014, when the project is scheduled for completion. To commemorate the completion of the construction, a handover ceremony will be held in the capital Naypyidaw today.

The construction of this communications infrastructure was conducted under an agreement between the consortium and Myanmar's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in support of the country's ‘Emergency communications network improvement plan’. The plan capitalizes on 1.71 billion yen in Official Development Assistance (ODA) that was granted to the government of Myanmar by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), an independent administrative agency, following requests from the Myanmar government for assistance from the Japanese government. This is the first infrastructure project in Myanmar that capitalizes on ODA from Japan since Japan's adoption of a new economic cooperation policy towards Myanmar in April 2012.

Primary features of the communications infrastructure include: High-speed, high-capacity core optical transmission network capable of transmitting 30Gbps between the cities of Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw, 50 LTE base-stations deployed within the three cities, and LTE communications, fixed-line telephones and optical transmission networks capable of 10Gbps Internet transmissions within each city.

The development of this network aims to improve Myanmar's communications infrastructure to a level that rivals that of developed markets, while promoting economic revitalization and improving the quality of people's daily lives.