Myanmar unlocks one of Asia's last untapped cellular markets

And thus far, Mr. Thein Sein’s actions have been well received. The European Union has suspended most of its sanctions against Myanmar. For the first time in 30 years, the Asian Development Bank resumed giving loans to Myanmar. And in May, Thein Sein became the first Burmese president to visit the White House since 1966.

But the country's government has received criticism from human rights groups for making moves toward democracy that lack the legal clout to make them permanent or even meaningful. Signing cellphone contracts with foreign companies is one such instance.

“Burma lacks an electronic privacy law to prevent arbitrary and over-broad surveillance practices, and the courts have no history of independence from the government,” according to a Human Rights Watch report released on Thursday in response to the announcement of the telecom finalists.

The licenses were awarded despite efforts by lawmakers in the lower parliament to delay licensing until the passage of a new telecommunications law goes into effect. But their efforts were blocked, according to a report by Radio Free Asia.

“Cellphone penetration and democratization are not necessarily correlated,” says Salil Tripathi, director of policy for the Institute for Human Rights and Business. “But cellphone penetration can help democratization, because it will enable people to realize many rights – not only civil and political, but also economic rights." 

The two telecom companies were chosen from 12 finalists based on their plans for bringing increasing technology into the country, though many analyst commented on the possible significance of choosing Middle Eastern and Norwegian companies. Latent religious tensions between Muslims and Buddhists have erupted in Myanmar, and "here are complaints from Buddhist leaders that one of the companies awarded a contract was Middle Eastern supplier," says Dietz. 

And Norwegian? Norway leads the Myanmar Peace Support Initiative, supporting cease-fires, though Telenor is unaffiliated. 

[Editor's note: The original headline of this article mischaracterized the current state of Asia's cellular rollout. Myanmar is one of the last untapped cellular markets.]

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