Mandalay people love to talk. It is good to see that they are increasingly turning to chat. The more the merrier, and better.
[him] moderator
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Licenced internet cafés proliferate quickly
Kyaw Zin Htun
REGISTERED internet cafes, or Public Access Centres (PACs) in the government’s words, have increased in number by nearly 165 percent over the previous year, according to statistics from Myanmar Info-Tech, on November 26.
Myanmar Info-Tech is the sole internet provider for internet cafes.
As of November 26 this year there were 485 PACs in Yangon, with a further 130 around the country; a total of 615. Last year those figures were 291 and 83 respectively, with a total number of 374.
Despite the apparent proliferation of cafes in Yangon, Mandalay this year had only 19 PACs, which was up on the 12 recorded the previous year.
“We don’t see the number of registered internet cafés increasing in Mandalay over the past year because most within the city are open illegally. Also, the Mandalay branch of Myanmar Info-Tech is still sorting some major administrative problems out following a fire in their office last year,” he said.
U Sein Win, the general manager of Myanmar Info-Tech, highlighted the increased reach of internet into the other large towns and cities beyond Yangon, which is in line with stated government aims.
“This year the increased number of new internet cafes in other towns is significant. And it shows that many of these towns have now received ADSL internet lines,” he said.
“For example, there are 40 internet cafes in Taunggyi and we can say it has the largest number of internet cafes except Yangon,” he said.
He said the internet cafe licence applications from Yangon had also increased and most applications are from the downtown area, plus Sanchaung and Tarmwe townships, adding that Yangon is not the only place to have seen increased interest.
“We’ve noticed that the internet cafe licence applications from towns outside Yangon has also increased,” he said but refused to say exactly how many.
“We receive on average between 15 and 20 applications a month, with some for completely new premises, and others are from unregistered cafes joining the legal fold,” he added.
To apply for a internet café licence, interested parties must contact Myanmar Info-Tech, with applicants from Yangon and Mandalay expected to pay an annual fee of K500,000, plus six months of monthly fees, at K300,000 each, upfront. Those outside Yangon and Mandalay have to pay K200,000 as an annual licence fee and six months – at K180,000 – upfront.
Myanmar Info-Tech was established in 2001 and has become the sole licensed internet provider for internet cafes since 2005.
Internet World Stats, an online statistics site that lists the number of internet users in each country around the globe based on figures gathered by the International Telecommunication Union, says Myanmar has nearly 109,000 internet users, or less than 0.2 percent of the population.
http://www.mmtimes.com/no500/n016.htm
