ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

by The The | New Delhi – Mobile phone users in Burma have reasons to cheer for they will be free of the monthly hassle of queuing up front of telephone offices to pay bills for their Global System for Mobile (GSM) as the Myanmar Post and Telecommunication department will soon introduce a prepaid system.

An official at the Myanmar Post and Telecommunication told Mizzima that it is all set to introduce a prepaid card system for mobile users, but it will initially be targeted at foreign tourists as the prepaid coupons will be sold in US dollars.

"Initially we are eyeing foreign tourists as the coupons will be sold in US dollars, but it does not restrict Burmese people if they can afford to buy the coupon in dollars," the official said.

While the official refused to go into details of the rates of the coupons and the quantum that will be made available, a source close to the MPT said the initial denominations for the coupons will be of US $ 10, 30 and 50.

The validity for a US$ 10 coupon will be a week, while for a US$ 30 coupon it will be for three weeks. For a US$ 50 coupon it will be and five weeks, the source said. In keeping with the practice in other countries, the coupons can be topped-up before the validity period expires.

The source added that call rates using the prepaid system will be 00.30 cents per pulse for domestic calls while overseas calls will be charged at the rate of 1.20 US$ per pulse.

Relief is at hand for subscribers for currently Burma's mobile users are required to line up at government telephone offices to pay the bills at the end of every month. But prepaid cards will enable users to fill in as much talk-time as they require and they will be alerted when their balance runs low.

Quoting MPT statistics, a Rangoon based weekly journal said there are currently over 200,000 GSM phones being used across the country. Burmese military authorities, who have maintained a tight grip over all communication lines, have limited the use of mobile phones by allocating only a limited number of mobile phones periodically.

With the limited availability of mobile phones, a GSM telephone handset and a Sim card in the black market costs about 1.5 million to 2 million kyat (approximately US $ 1200).