Customers queue for prepaid SIM cards late last year.

IN this age of information technology, it’s no longer rare to see people of all ages talking and texting on mobile phones. What was a luxury a decade ago has become today’s necessity.

But until last year, it was neither easy nor cheap for most people in Myanmar to have their own mobile phones – the K1.5 million installation fee saw to that. The change came when the state-owned telecommunications provider, Myanma Post and Telecommunications, introduced a prepaid phone card system for Global System for Mobile (GSM) phones.

MPT introduced the one-time GSM prepaid cards at the 7th Myanmar ICT Week, held last December at Yadanabon cyber city, in Pyin Oo Lwin township in Mandalay Division, and then in more than 50 mobile phone shops in 30 towns throughout the country, including Yangon and Mandalay.

Attracted by the prepaid cards, priced at FEC10 and FEC20, thousands of people flocked to get their own phones.

Yangon resident Ma Yin Min, who is in her 30s, was one of them. As an office worker, the K1.5 million installation fee was more than she could afford. The introduction of prepaid cards brought phone mobility within her reach.

“To rent a phone I’d have to pay charges for at least three or six months, plus K200,000 deposit. But I will spend only FEC20 to use a prepaid phone card. I started using cards four months ago,” she said, adding that her phone was for personal use, not for business.

“But the problem is calling charges. As the prepaid cards have higher calling charges, I’ve got to be careful on calling others. Incoming calls are also charged, and the lack of a fixed number is rather inconvenient. But it’s better than nothing,” said Ma Yin Min.

Ma Yin Min uses a card for about 20 days on average. When it runs out, she buys a new one.

Since the launch of GSM prepaid phone cards last December, Central Marketing, the authorised distributor of prepaid phone cards, has sold about 320,000 cards. “We distribute 60,000-80,000 cards a month to about 50 retailers in 30 towns. Yangon and Mandalay sell the most,” said U Sai Khin Maung Aye, the general manager of Central Marketing.

The company now offers only the FEC20 card because that’s where the demand is. Most retailers sell the card for kyat, with a FEC20 card going for K23,000-25,000.

Customers like the cards, and the number of buyers has risen over the past six months, said a spokesperson for a mobile phone shop in Yangon’s Latha township.

“The demand is gradually growing and becoming stable. If you hire a mobile phone, you have to pay a deposit of K200,000 plus monthly charges of about K40,000-50,000. At our shop, there are more repeat customers than first-time buyers. We sell an average of about 10 cards daily,” he said.

First-time buyers usually spend about K100,000 on their first mobile, said Ma Lwin Mar Tun, the manager of AMT Mobile Mart in Yangon’s Mingalar Taung Nyunt township.