New owner of telco Telenor Myanmar promises to keep data privacy policy

Telenor announced the sale of its Myanmar subsidiary to M1 for US$105 million in July 2021. - Reuters

YANGON, April 15 (The Straits Times/ANN): The new owner of telecommunications operator Telenor Myanmar has pledged to maintain the same data privacy policy as its predecessor, amid concerns that it would turn over sensitive subscriber information to Myanmar's military regime.

"We would like to stress that Investcom Pte Ltd will follow the same principles as Telenor Myanmar in terms of lawful intercept equipment activation and/or requests," said the Investcom Holding press office in an e-mailed response to queries from The Straits Times on Thursday (April 14).

"The network is committed to meeting all of its legal and ethical obligations to tens of millions of loyal customers."

Investcom Pte Ltd is a Singapore-registered joint venture between Lebanese investment group M1 and Myanmar conglomerate Shwe Byain Phyu. Its acquisition of Telenor Myanmar was approved by the Myanmar regulators in March after prolonged uncertainty and angst over the exit of what was considered the country's most transparent telco.

Telenor Myanmar, which will soon be renamed, has some 18 million subscribers.

After the military coup on Feb 1 last year, the then Norwegian-owned Telenor Myanmar challenged the junta's demands to block Internet access and made them known to the public.

But as the junta later pressured telcos to install spyware and barred Telenor Myanmar's senior executives from leaving the country, its position became more precarious.

Sigve Brekke, the chief executive of Telenor Group, said on March 18 that a key reason for selling its Myanmar unit was that "we do not want to install intercept equipment, which all operators are required to".

"Activation of such equipment is subject to Norwegian and EU (European Union) sanctions. As of today, Telenor has not activated intercept equipment," he said then.

Telenor announced the sale of its Myanmar subsidiary to M1 for US$105 million (S$142 million) in July last year, but it was not approved by the Myanmar junta until a local majority owner was secured.

Shwe Byain Phyu has interests in petroleum, manufacturing and commodities. Myanmar media has alleged that it has business ties with the military, whose key leaders along with its entities have been sanctioned by the United States and EU.

Asked to comment on this, Investcom told ST: "We, as well as Telenor, have conducted sanctions screening through external consultants who assured us that the Shwe Byain Phyu group and its owners are neither subject to any current international sanctions, nor linked to the military.

"We further looked into the allegations made by some news outlets and could not substantiate any of them."

It added: "At all times, Investcom will NEVER (sic) violate or allow the violation of any sanctions rules whatsoever, including matters such as: company ownership and/or control by sanctioned persons and/or alleged associates; financing; and others."

Investcom further said that no member of Myanmar's State Administration Council - as the junta calls itself - holds a stake or position in the company. - The Straits Times/ANN