Telenor is one step closer to approval of sales in Myanmar

This is the site Myanmar now who mentions the message.

As for NTB, Telenor Group’s director of communications Gry Rohde Nordhus said the company is now spending time evaluating it.

However, it is important to note that approval from the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority is only one step in the overall approval process, and we are still awaiting final regulatory approval for the transaction between Telenor and M1 Group, she writes.

much longer

The communications manager adds that the process took much longer than usual, and that it is difficult to say anything accurate about the subsequent process.

Telenor sales in Myanmar are controversial. Among other things, the company was reported to the police by the Forum for Development and Environment (Forum) for serious crimes against humanity.

The Director of Communications had previously confirmed that there was no basis for any communication against the company.

Forum: Biggest Obstacle

ForUM believes the latest developments mean it is necessary to halt sales.

Our contacts in the country say this is the biggest obstacle to completing the sale, Diego Alexander Voss at Forum said in a press release on Friday.

Telenor established itself in Myanmar in 2014. The Telenor Myanmar subsidiary has rapidly grown into one of the largest mobile operators in the country. As of today, the company has 18 million customers in Myanmar, but last summer Telenor announced that the company would be sold to Lebanon’s M1 group for NOK 900 million.

Solstice is the background

The deal comes after the implementation of a military coup in the country. Telenor explained that the background to the sale was that the Myanmar Military Council was demanding that it be allowed to monitor mobile communications.

However, the decision to sell is controversial as Myanmar’s Shwe Byain Phyu Group has become the main owner, according to Reuters news agency and several other media outlets. According to Myanmar media, the group has links to the junta, and human rights organizations fear that information about activists and others may be leaked to the junta.