Sojitz, NTT Com, NEC and NEC Networks & System Integration (NESIC) jointly announced a plan to upgrade communications infrastructure connecting the major cities in Myanmar.
The Communication Network Improvement Project, valued at about 7 billion yen (about 62 million USD), will be the first ODA loan project in Myanmar's communications field carried out under the auspices of the Japanese government. The four participating companies plan to construct international internet connection facilities and communications infrastructure connecting Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon, Mandalay and the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) by 2021.
Compared to the present, communications capacity will be more than tripled and significantly upgraded. The project also will support 5G services expected to be introduced in the near future.
Due to rapid economic growth in Myanmar, the penetration rate of mobile phones, only about 10% in 2014, now exceeds 90%, but insufficiencies in communication capacity and IP addresses have made the strengthening of communication infrastructure an urgently required task.
NTT Com and NEC have developed communication infrastructure now in use in Myanmar, such as LTE base stations, international internet connection facilities and a core communication network connecting Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay. Also, Sojitz has long been engaged in infrastructure and energy projects in the country, having opened an office in Yangon in 1918.
