Intense competition has forced internet cafe owners to think more about the design, location and amenities at their shop. COM internet centre (above), in Yangon’s Latha township, features a dining hall and spacious booths.

WALK along most major roads in Yangon or Mandalay and you’re bound to quickly spot an internet café, usually new and mostly crowded with customers. If you start thinking to yourself, “I could have sworn there weren’t so many one or two years ago” – well, you’d be right. The number of internet cafés in Yangon and Mandalay has increased significantly just in the past three years.

In Yangon, the first internet cafes began to appear in 2004 but by 2006 there were still only 20 licensed internet cafés in Myanmar’s commercial capital. There are now almost 500 licensed internet cafés, known as Public Access Centres (PAC), in Myanmar. At least 384 of these – or about 77 percent – are in Yangon, according to Myanmar Info-Tech, the only issuer of internet café licenses in Myanmar.

And that number is growing rapidly. According to a recent Weekly Eleven report, the number of approved internet cafés in Myanmar grew by 11pc in the first 10 weeks of 2009 alone. A spokesperson from Myanmar Info-Tech said the number of internet café license applications being filed is on the increase.

Ko Myo Min, a regular customer at a public internet centre in Latha township, says he has noticed increased competition among internet cafés in his area. He says four years ago owners could get away with providing a slow connection and an ancient PC but now customers expected customer service, new computers with LCD monitors, a high-speed connection and somewhere to eat and drink – not to mention a nicely decorated shop.

Ko Nay Zaw, the owner of Hub Club in Lanmadaw township, says a good location close or on a main road is important for the business to be successful.

“If you want to open a cyber café, you have to do your research and find a good location. Normally, a main road is the best place to begin but it depends on the area as well,” he said.

Owners also need to decide how many terminals they will need – more terminals increases the potential profits but also adds to the set up costs. Most opt for somewhere between 10 and 50 PCs.

“The daily income depends on the numbers of computers we have and the electricity supply because if the electricity cuts out we have to run a generator. But usually we can make at least K30,000 a day,” Ko Nay Zaw said.

The owner of Net Sky, an internet café on Mahabandoola Park Street, said the quality of the internet connection – or lack of connection – also affects profits.

“Getting a high speed connection and running the generator are our main costs,” he said. “In March and April we had no connection because – according to Myanma Post and Telecommunications (MPT) – there were problems when they did maintenance on the underground connection in Singapore.

“We have set up two internet connections in our shop so we nearly always have a connection – if the Myanmar Teleport line is out, the MPT connection can be used and vice versa. That’s really important to attract customers, I think, to keep them satisfied.”

“But as well as the good connection, nice LCD monitors and air conditioners are also helpful for attracting customers. Also, now so many customers ask to use the international call service Pfingo because they want to talk with their family members who are living abroad, so we need to provide that service,” he added.

As well as winning over fickle customers, internet café owners have to ensure they stay onside with the authorities, namely Myanmar Info-Tech.

Myanmar Info-Tech’s general manager, U Sein Win, says prospective internet café owners must submit a design of their planned shop, including the interior decoration, colour, logo and signage, to Myanmar Info-Tech for approval.

In YCDC and MCDC areas, owners are required to make a one-off payment of K500,000 and then K50,000 a month. Outside of these areas, the fees are K200,000 for the license and K30,000 a month.

“Owners also have to pay K100,000 to Myanmar Info-Tech if they want to change their location,” U Sein Win said. “We have rules for the cyber cafés and the owners must follow these rules before they open – if not we will take action.”

There are also strict rules that internet café owners must abide by in terms of customer usage.

Ko Soe Zeya, a regular internet user from Thaketa township, says he finds the internet very beneficial but is concerned about how young people use it.

“Whenever I’m in my local internet café I always see heaps of people who are under 18 [years of age]. I think it’s great that they know how to use a computer and the internet at that age,” he said.

Most of the customers at Ko Nay Zaw’s internet café are also teenagers and they primarily use the internet for checking emails, social networking sites and chatting, he says. He also has concerns about teenagers using the internet.

“The teenagers are pretty loyal customers and they always come here to use the chat programs,” he says. “Some people say that it’s not good for them to be chatting all the time but we don’t really know if that’s true or not – yet.”