Monthly Photos　February 2016

Photos taken by ILCAA staff and associates are posted here once a month; most of them are taken during their field research in Asia and Africa.

(The copyright belongs to the photographers.)

Blue signs everywhere

The mobile communication service market in Myanmar has drastically changed with the entry of two companies, Telenor from Norway and Ooredoo from Qatar. The two companies are expanding coverage and adopting a low-price strategy to compete with Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), a state owned enterprise which virtually monopolized the market.

Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, has been in the coverage area of the two companies since May of last year. In order to advertise their services, Telenor is furnishing the stores selling their SIM cards with a square blue sign with the name of the shop, and a blue display of a guitar pick shape with the logo of the company. As a result, when I visited here after a year's absence, I came across blue signs taking the city by storm, from downtown to suburb.

4 JAN 2016
Tatkon Ward, Myitkyina, Myanmar
Photograph by Hideo SAWADA

Go back to Back Issues of Monthly Photos’ page