KO Zaw takes a break by logging into Googlemail after spending about half an hour playing an online game at his internet café, Hub Club, in Lanmadaw township.

The connection is quite swift and after a few minutes, he enjoys talking to some of his buddies abroad who also use Googlemail.

“I certainly cannot talk to my sister, who is using Yahoo, while logging into Google Talk. It takes extra time for me to use P Fingo to call her hand phone and hear her voice. Here, Gmail is the easiest way to connect with most of my friends here and abroad. But my sister doesn’t want to open a Gmail account just to talk to me,” said Ko Zaw, 27.

He said at his shop, most of the people who come back from abroad would be using such banned sites such as Yahoo in his shop but others would be using Gmail and do not see customers who are logging into Myanmar talk (M-talk), which has recently been launched by Myanmar Technology Gateway.

“The main reason for using foreign web-based mail such as G-talk here is because it is free and less complicated. Compared to other local news and entertainment sites such as People and Planet, the technology, template and designs are quite different and the news is not always updated, as it is on foreign sites,” he said, explaining why most of his customers prefer to browse foreign sites.

The majority of his customers are gamers but others would be using Gmail, the most common web-based mail, and most will be browsing foreign sites, said Ko Zaw.

Ko Zaw said that, compared to local web-based mail such as Mail4U and Bagan, the free foreign web-based mail has more functions and is simpler.

Internet user Ko Zin Min Tun, 24, who has recently qualified as a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, said most of the websites he browses are foreign.

“I have two free foreign web-based mail engines, Gmail and Hotmail from Microsoft. I’ve never used the local mail because most of my friends use Gmail and I don’t want to have extra mail and mess up the communications lists,” said Ko Zin Min Tun.

He said the reason for using Hotmail is to get certificates from Microsoft for the exams he had to take.

The advantages he sees from using foreign mail is that it’s free of charge, reliable and offers much greater storage capacity for messages – up to two gigabytes, much more than local competitors.

“Most internet cafés would not have software such as Your Freedom, and it is hard to use Yahoo,” he said.

To get up-to-date local news, Ko Zin Min would be off, turning the pages of local journals and newspapers and, of course, foreign sites.