New Delhi (Mizzima) - Burma is set to introduce a single-use Mobile Sim Card system that will allow users to easily buy short-lived Sim Cards with Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC), a paper note currency equivalent to the U.S. dollar, according to a company that has contracted with the government.
The new Global System for Mobile (GSM) Sim Cards will allow users to activate the cards on their mobile handsets and will be launched during the four-day Information & Communication Technology (ICT) exhibition to be held from December 12 to 15 in Yadanabon Cyber City near Mandalay, announced Central Marketing Co. Ltd, which has been awarded the sole rights to distribute the cards.
According to the company's marketing Manager, Ko Sai, the company is taking up a pilot project that will begin with 10 and 20 FEC denomination cards available for a trial period of three months. The company was awarded its monopoly in the market by Myanmar Post and Telecommunications.
According to Ko Sai, the 10 FEC Sim Card will allow users to use the card for a period of two weeks, while the 20 FEC denomination card will allow users to make or receive calls for up to a month's time from the date of purchase.
While the cards are mainly targeted toward foreign tourists, who generally travel in Burma for no longer than one month, they will also be available for purchase by Burmese nationals in possession of FECs and a valid national identity card, Ko Sai added.
Chief of Engineers from Myanmar Post and Telecommunications, Major Zaw Min Oo, said initially 10,000 Sim Cards will be made available at the exhibition.
While the news has been welcomed on the streets of Burma, the cheap price of the Sim Cards will nevertheless be balanced by a drastically increased charge for calls.
According to the chief engineer, the newly introduced Sim Cards will charge users for both incoming and outgoing calls. Domestic outgoing calls will be charged a fee of 0.30 FEC and incoming calls 0.05 FEC, with all overseas calls charged at a rate of 1.50 FEC per minute.
Under the existing system, domestic outgoing calls are charged a mere 0.02 FEC per minute, the new rate evidence of the dramatic increase in charges associated with the single-use cards.
The new system will also facilitate the use of Short Message Services (SMS), and will charge 0.05 FEC per message. Receiving or sending international text messages is currently disabled in Burma, and domestic messaging is strictly curtailed.
In Burma, all communications, including mobiles, are controlled by the government and the limited amount of telephones and mobiles available are usually handed down to government officials and their relatives, which makes it problematic for a normal civilian to get a telephone line or mobile phone.
On the black market, a GSM phone costs about 1.7 million kyat (US$ 1,360), while the government rate is approximately 1.5 million kyat. Though the government seems to be aware of the existing disparity in the prices and the practice of government officials in reselling or renting their allotted mobile phones, it has turned a deaf ear to the disequilibrium in the market and allowed the practice to serve as a second income for government officials, who are normally underpaid.
