The UK government’s development finance institution announced this week a US$30 million (45.4 billion kyats) investment in the Myanmar internet service provider Frontiir, formerly known as Myanmar Net. The British CDC Group, formerly the Commonwealth Development Corporation, said the investment will help Frontiir expand across the country to eventually bring more than 2 million people online. The CDC is fully owned by the government of the UK and operates on a mandate “to build thriving communities that provide sustainable opportunities for all citizens.”

The Frontiir investment helps the company meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal number nine, which deals with “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.”  Under that umbrella, the UN goal seeks to “Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020,” UN documents read. It marks the CDC’s first direct equity investment in Myanmar.

The CDC said its investment will allow Frontiir, which already employees more than 1,600, to hire an estimated 4,000 more people. Frontiir plans to expand its internet service, branded as “Myanmar Net,” to cover lower income townships within Yangon and Mandalay and to eventually cover 22 cities and towns across the country in the next few years. “CDC’s capital will help accelerate [Frontiir’s] growth, helping it reach further remote regions,” said Srini Nagarajan, CDC managing director and head of Asia.

Source: The Irrawaddy

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