CDMA cards fail to appear on June 20, as prices rise

CDMA cards fail to appear on June 20, as prices rise

By Staff   |   Monday, 24 June 2013

Cheap mobile phone SIM cards have failed to materialise on the date the government said they would be released through ward offices, as prices hit K90,000 on the news that Yangon would receive a smaller allocations than in April and May.

A student helps conduct a lucky draw for K1500 SIM cards at Bahan's Yedashe ward on April 24. (Aung Htay Hlaing/The Myanmar Times)

State-run media reported on June 15 that the K1500 CDMA SIM cards would go on sale from June 20, following the sale of about 700,000 cards in April and May. However, by deadline they had still not been released and ward administrators in Yangon said they did not know when sales would begin.

However, Yangon Region Minister for Transportation and Communication U Aung Khin said the sale would take place by June 23. "On [June 20] we held [a] meeting with township administrative officials about the plan for selling the SIM cards. They are going to be launched within one or two days," he told The Myanmar Times on June 21.

U Phay Tike Aung, the administrator of Yedashe ward in Bahan township, said the cards would again be sold through a lucky draw.

"The Bahan township general administration office is asking us to submit the list of names for the lucky draw," he said.

The administrator of Lanmadaw's No 1 ward said he was still accepting applications from residents who want to enter the lucky draw.

However, residents will be vying for a smaller number of cards than in April and May, U Aung Khin said.

The minister said that Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) had distributed the SIMs to regional governments on June 19 and Yangon received a quota of 56,859 for public sales and 28,430 for civil servants, representing a 29 percent decrease on the 120,000 it was allocated in May.

"In Yangon Region, Taikkyi township has got the largest quota and Seikkan township has got the lowest for this month," U Aung Khin said.

The lower allocation is because the city's CDMA 800MHz infrastructure is struggling to cope with the influx of the new SIM cards. State media said Ayeyarwady Region, along with Kayin, Mon and northern Shan states, had also received a reduced allocation because of crowding on the network, while Bago, Magwe and Mandalay regions and Rakhine, eastern Shan and southern Shan states had received higher allocations.

The report said the number of base transceiver stations was being increased from 282 to 346 to cope with the extra demand in these areas.

However, if previous releases are any guide, many of the SIM cards will be resold to areas of high demand. While they officially sell for K1500, the CDMA 800Mhz SIM cards are selling for up to K90,000.

"The price has increased since MPT announced it had reduced Yangon Region's allocation. Also, the internet connection speed is better than other SIM cards," said Ko Yan Naing Soe Myint, a director of the Lu Gyi Min mobile phone chain. He added that relatively few of the people buying the CDMA cards were applying to connect them to mobile internet.

At a press conference in May, Deputy Minister for Communications and Information Technology U Thaung Tin said the government planned to sell cheap GSM or WCDMA cards in areas of high CDMA usage to balance the load on the network.

However, no announcement has been made as to when GSM cards will be released. They currently sell for K240,000 at mobile phone shops.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/06/28/cdma-cards-fail-to-appear-on-june-20-as-prices-rise/