Plans to auction additional spectrum in the 2600MHz band are now expected to be delayed, after the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) received an unexpectedly wide ‘range of contrasting views on the process,’ the Myanmar Times writes, citing a senior MCIT official. The ministry was due to publish a framework for the spectrum sale before the end of February, with the auction to take place in late March, but was caught off guard by the feedback it received from the industry in its public consultation. Whilst the government is keen to sell off the airwaves as quickly as possible, ahead of the handover to a new administration at the end of March, cellcos Telenor and Ooredoo have argued that the tender should wait until a spectrum roadmap is finalised.
Although Posts and Telecommunications director U Than Htun Aung stressed that the auction would take more time to finalise, but had not been ‘officially delayed’, Ooredoo Myanmar CEO Rene Meza, pointed out that: ‘With the guidelines being delayed this much, the likelihood of all operators being ready for the auction is probably challenging.’