First call centre to open

Burma will have its first information call centre in three days.

Called Yadanabon call centre, the information service will open on Saturday, operated by Maynmar Telecommunication and Blue Ocean Company in a joint venture.

Free information will be provided for the first two months of operation to people searching for relevant government departments and offices, but are not sure who they should contact, according to the state-run MRTV website. After the free-service period, the centre will charge a fee for each service.

The centre will be open 24-hours a day, providing information on public education, health, social services and communication services. In addition, it will offer special services to private companies by answering their calls and providing information.

Services related to the Internet, e-mail and faxing will also be offered. The operation will employ a staff of 240 people, according to a news release.

The CIA World Factbook says that while Burma’s telephone system “meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government,” it is “barely capable of providing a basic service” for average citizens.

In 2010, the Burmese government had installed a total of 1.3 million mobile phones and 866,084 landlines as of July, the Weekly Eleven journal said, citing statistics released by Myanmar Post and Telecommunications.

In contrast, neighbouring Thailand had 28 million mobile phone users in 2008, or nearly half the population.

Part of the reason for Burma’s late communications development has been the high cost of mobile phones: when GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) phones were introduced, initial subscription fees were 1.5 million kyat (US $1,500). The average annual wage in Burma is a little over US $250.

Since then, CDMA phones were introduced at a lower cost, but mobile phones remain well beyond the reach of most Burmese citizens.

Source : Mizzima English

ITU/ASEAN Subregional CSIRT/CIRT/CERT Workshop for CLMV

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and ASEAN are jointly organizing the ITU - ASEAN Subregional CSIRT/CIRT/CERT Workshop for Cambodia, Lao P.D.R., Myanmar and VietNam (CLMV) which will be held in Yangon, Myanmar on 29 Nov – 1 Dec 2011. The Workshop is hosted by the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs of Myanmar

The Workshop is a joint effort of ITU and ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Senior Officials (TELSOM) that aims to provide a platform for cooperation, information sharing, and discussion on cybersecurity and with particular focus on CSIRT/CIRT/CERT policies, procedures, best practices, challenges and opportunities among participants from ASEAN Member Countries, in particular, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and VietNam (CLMV) and ASEAN Dialogue Partners.

The Workshop aims to contribute to previous as well as ongoing global activities related to building confidence and security in the use of ICTs (WSIS Action Line C5) and is linked to the ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) and Hyderabad Action Plan Programme 2 (Cybersecurity, ICT Applications and IP-based network-related issues). It expects to bring together CIRT practitioners, senior government officials, cybersecurity experts, related industry players and other stakeholder groups from ICT and security sectors with the end in view of strengthening the countries’ CIRTs, their cybersecurity fundamentals as well as building a network of cybersecurity experts in ASEAN.

One important feature of the Workshop is the conduct of a cyber drill/simulation on the last day of the workshop. Thus, participation of your national CIRT practitioners is highly recommended. Please find attached a tentative Workshop Programme, for your reference.

Please be also informed that as co-organizer, ASEAN will be offering sponsorship to participants of Cambodia, Lao P.D.R., VietNam; and Myanmar (if they are not residing in Yangon), as well as speakers of some ASEAN Member States, inclusive of airfare, lodging and per diem. The ASEAN Secretariat will be contacting the relevant focal points of your Administration for more details. Participants from all other ASEAN Member States are encouraged to participate in the Workshop on self-funding basis.

Original link : http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/asp/CMS/Events/2011/CIRTWkshp/

Researchers Spot Blue Coat Web Control Gear In Another Repressive Regime: Burma

Since Web filtering and network monitoring gear from Blue Coat Systems turned up in Syria last month, the company has been scrambling to avoid a reputation as an Internet arms provider to the world’s most repressive dictatorships. A new report from Canadian researchers won’t help: It shows that Blue Coat gear has been used in Burma, too.

A team at Citizen Lab, a research center at the University of Toronto focused on Internet security and human rights, released evidence Wednesday that shows Blue Coat devices were deployed in Burma as well as Syria to filter and surveil the Internet. Using remote scanning tools and field researchers in both countries, they say they’ve found 13 more Blue Coat devices in Syria, as well as strong evidence that the company’s gear was used in Burma as well.

Citizen Lab found three clues that place Blue Coat gear used for surveillance and censorship in the military-controlled Southeast Asian country. First, they scanned IP addresses at Burma’s primary internet service provider Yatanarpon Teleport, and found names of devices that match Blue Coat’s names like “fw-webfilter” and “bc-director.” Second, they queried Blue Coat devices known to be in Syria and matched their error messages with those in Burma. And third, they correlated their own survey of 500 blocked websites in Burma with preset categories of filtering on Blue Coat devices like “Intimate Apparel and Swimsuits” and “LGBT,” and found a close-to-100% correlation.

“While not definitive, it is unlikely that this correlation would be as strong were Burma to use an alternative filtering system,” reads the report. Ron Deibert, a University of Toronto political science professor and Citizen Lab’s director, makes a stronger statement: ”With these three pieces of evidence, it’s practically impossible that these aren’t Blue Coat devices.”

A Blue Coat spokesperson I reached by phone declined to comment immediately and referred me to a statement on the company’s website published yesterday.”Blue Coat has become aware that certain Blue Coat ProxySG Web security appliances apparently were transferred illegally to Syria after being lawfully sold to a channel distribution partner for a seemingly appropriate designated end user. Blue Coat does not sell to countries embargoed by the US, and does not allow its partners to sell to embargoed countries,” the statement reads in part. “We don’t want our products to be used by the government of Syria or any other country embargoed by the United States. If our review of the facts about this diversion presents solutions that enable us to better protect against future illegal and unwanted diversion of our products, we intend to take steps to implement them.”

Burma, sometimes known as Myanmar, remains on a list of companies with whom the U.S. government carefully restricts trade, though it’s not clear whether sales of Blue Coat-type devices to the country would be illegal. Under the military junta that controls the country, opposition groups and minorities have been brutally repressed, and during a bloody crackdown on protests in 2007 the country became the first to temporarily shut down its Internet altogether.

The use of Blue Coat’s technology in Syria was revealed last month when the hacker group Telecomix exfiltrated and analyzed 54 gigabytes of data from a device in Syria. Blue Coat later admitted to the Wall Street Journal that its devices were in Syria, but claimed they had found their way to the country through sales to Iraq via the United Arab Emirates, and that the company hadn’t been aware of its gear’s presence in Syria. ”We don’t want our products to be used by the government of Syria or any other country embargoed by the United States,” Blue Coat executive Steve Daheb, told the Journal, adding that Blue Coat was “saddened by the human suffering and loss of human life” in Syria.

Some have expressed skepticism about Blue Coat’s ignorance of Syria’s use of its devices. “Bet you anything that the Syrian Blue Coat products are registered, and that they receive all the normal code and filter updates,” wrote security guru and blogger Bruce Schneier.

Blue Coat is only the latest Internet firm to face criticism for–wittingly or unwittingly–supplying dictators with tools for controlling and exploiting the Internet. Narus, a cybersecurity and digital surveillance subsidiary of Boeing, was found to have sold technology to the Libyan government. Cisco sold network censorship and spying gear to China. And a trio of other firms, American NetApp, French Qosmos, and German Ultimaco all had their technology used by the Italian firm Area SpA to set up a vast surveillance system in Syria.

While only some of those cases potentially violate U.S. trade restrictions, those companies’ ethical problems may be far more serious, says Jillian York, director of international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “It’s not about export controls,” she says. “Even if Blue Coat didn’t sell to Syria, they say they were selling to the UAE and Iraq, countries that also use these tools for unlawful surveillance and have no privacy controls.”

Citizen Lab’s Deibert says legal restrictions on trade can only go so far, particularly when non-U.S. companies offer competing products. “Legislation can only apply within jurisidations,” he says. “This really requires the media and researchers to lift the lid on the Internet and find out what goes on beneath the surface.”

Source : http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/11/09/researchers-spot-blue-coat-web-control-gear-in-another-bad-regime-burma/

Will the Internet help trigger the next uprising in Burma?

Rangoon (Mizzima) - As the Internet and social media spread news of civil unrest and demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya, the military junta in Burma is afraid that the young generation here will follow suit. All news is suppressed and–as the best indicator of the junta’s concerns–Internet speed is down to a trickle.

But can the Internet-driven revolution in the Middle East really be replicated in Burma? If we take a close look at the situation in Burma, and look at its rather unique characteristics and backwardness, we see that there is little chance of the Internet playing a significant role in stirring up anti-government protests. If there is to be radical change, other factors will have to come into play.

Let’s look at the Internet and communications in Burma. Internet access is largely confined to the two major cities, Rangoon and Mandalay. Most of the Internet usage takes place in Internet cafes, which under government regulation have had to install URL-tracking software and CCTV cameras to keep customers under close surveillance. It goes almost without saying that all Internet outlets prohibit access to banned and blocked sites.

The number of Internet users reflects Burma’s depressing reality. In 2010, only 110,000 users or 0.2 percent of a population of 55 million Burmese used the Internet, whereas in China 30 percent of the population uses the Internet regularly. Even taking the most optimistic claim that there are a total of 500,000 users in the country shows the dire picture. And using the Internet as an information source is very limited. All sites and pages critical of the regime are banned and blocked, including the seemingly innocent pages of the Financial Times and the Bangkok Post, and, most importantly, Twitter and YouTube. Facebook can be viewed but being able to send messages from one’s Facebook account is like winning the lottery–mostly the sent messages do not get sent.

Internet Usage and Population Statistics:

YEAR	Users	Population	% Pen.	GDP p.c.*	Usage Source
2000	1,000	54,021,571	0.002 %	US$ N/A	ITU.
2008	40,000	47,758,181	0.1 %	US$ 479	ITU.
2009	108,900	48,137,741	0.2 %	US$ 459	ITU.
2010	110,000	53,414,374	0.2 %	US$ 469	ITU.

Note: Per Capita GDP in US dollars, source: International Monetary Fund.

Source: Internet World Stats, June 2010

Although young Internet users know how to access banned sites, government surveillance is frightening, the painstakingly slow Internet speed discouraging, and the frequent power blackouts very frustrating. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who recently had installed what is advertised as a ‘high-speed’ broadband Internet connection talked of the need ‘… to increase the Megabytes’.

Glass-fiber cables are being installed in Rangoon but the advertised capacity of 30 Mbps has never been experienced. The installation fee of US$ 990 and monthly charges of US$ 35-110 for one line are clearly outside the reach of ordinary citizens who live of an average income of about US$ 30 a month.

Other communication devices also illustrate the backwardness of Burma’s infrastructure. All around the world mobile phones are an essential part of daily life. Not so in Burma. The most favorable statistics estimate the mobile phone penetration at 3.7 percent of the total population, which equals 2 million phone users. This by any standard is ridiculously low. Mobile phones are prohibitively expensive and do not allow access to e-mail or the Internet. The few government controlled operators do not support international roaming and even the international SMS service is blocked. The market price of a GSM SIM card came down recently. A GSM SIM card without a handset is now US$ 1,400-1,600 on the black market. The official price for a SIM card is about US$ 170 but nobody is willing to sell at that price. A new scheme has been announced in which pre-paid CDMA SIM cards will sell for US$ 600. But let’s see what the market price will be.

Even fixed-line phones are an unaffordable luxury. Only a small number of households have a phone line. The monthly rent for an average apartment in Rangoon is about 50 percent higher if it comes with a phone line compared to an apartment without an installed phone. The latest official data talk of 1 percent penetration.

The government does everything it can to keep its population in the dark by restricting what is shown on TV and in the press. As more than 80 percent of Burma’s GNP is generated in the agricultural sector and most of the population lives in villages and agricultural areas, no sources of information are available other than the government approved TV and press. Of course, the national press and the government TV do not report anything about the protests and uprisings in the Middle East. Fortunately, in the major cities and hotels across the country satellite TV is available although it is not officially allowed. The subscription costs are about US$ 400 a year.

Given these depressing statistics, the Burmese government does not have to be afraid of an uprising triggered by the Internet and social media.

Given the unlikelihood of an Internet-sparked uprising, what will it take to bring Burmese onto the streets as seen in 1988 or the monk-led “Saffron Revolution” of 2007?

It is dangerous to make comparisons with the Middle East. The major differences between the Arab countries and Burma make it very hard to imagine another uprising in Burma in the near future. Although the share of young and unemployed is higher in Burma than in the Middle East, the culture and education could hardly be more different. Western and Islamic nations have grown up in the Christian or Islamic tradition of violent conflict solution over the last 1,000 to 2,000 years. In contrast, 90 percent of the Burmese population is Buddhist, a culture that at heart is more peace-loving and less violent.

Many of the leaders of the Middle East protests have been educated at schools and universities in Britain, France or the United States, whereas only a handful of Burmese students have studied abroad and even fewer are willing to return home after finishing their education. The formal school education in Burma has gone downhill since the private and missionary schools were nationalized in 1965. The quality of school and university education is catastrophic and has resulted in generations of poorly educated students without any political mindset.

Most importantly, the violent military crackdowns of the earlier uprisings in 1988 and 2007 have left the Burmese population in fear. Many Burmese were afraid to listen to Aung San Suu Kyi’s first speech after her recent release from house arrest. They were afraid of being filmed by secret police, identified and later arrested at home at night as happened in the weeks after the 2007 demonstrations. Many young people refrain from any open defiance of the regime as their arrests could be followed by the arrests of ‘complicit’ family members. And the 2,200 political activists who still linger in prison are a constant remainder of the brutality of the regime.

Many Burma experts claim that cracks, discontent and envy among the military ranks might topple the ruling junta. But as past experience in Burma shows, a new military dictator is more likely to follow a military coup than a democratic revolution. The military has established a parallel society and economy with its own schools, universities, hospitals and living quarters. The military officers feel they are an elite class who are the only ones who can prevent the Union of Myanmar from disintegrating. They feel superior and look down on the people as lower class citizens.

The Burmese have learned after the mass demonstrations in 1988 that it is very hard to get rid of an old dictator, Ne Win, without inviting in a new one, General Than Shwe. This still echoes in a common Burmese saying: ‘Be careful when you kick out the old ruler, the new one might be worse’. This is certainly true for Burma. Will this be true for Tunisia, Egypt or Libya?

There is hope that the people in the Middle East will ultimately replace their authoritarian regimes. But in Burma, it is hard to look to the ‘new world’ of Facebook and Twitter to inspire a new uprising. If there is a spark, it may be more grounded. After all, it was a dramatic rise in petrol and food prices that sparked the revolt in 2007.

Mandalar Maung is a pseudonym for a foreign resident in Rangoon.

Source : http://mizzima.com/edop/commentary/5038-will-the-internet-help-trigger-the-next-uprising-in-burma.html

Government bans Internet overseas calls

Bangkok (Mizzima) – The Burmese Telecommunication and Communication Ministry has issued a directive banning the use of the Internet for ‘voice over Internet protocol’ (VOIP) overseas calls.

A modern Internet cafe in Rangoon, one of
many appearing throughout the former capital. Photo :Mizzima

 The directive, dated March 2, 2011, was issued by Managing Director Tint Lwin of Myanmar Communication, Post and Telegraph Corporation, saying that overseas calls made through VOIPs such as Skype, Gtalk, Pfingo and VZO are incurring losses to government revenue.

 It was unclear what penalty would apply for people using such services or how the use of the services would be monitored.

The directive was sent to the chairman of Myanmar Info-Tech Corp. Ltd., which controls all Public Access Centres (PAC), or Internet cafes, across the country. The corporation reissued the directive and circulated it on March 10.

Internet cafe operators told Mizzima that Skype and Pfingo VOIP services are used most for making overseas calls by Burmese Internet users.

The overseas call charges (international direct dialing, or IDD) by government-run Myanmar Communication are too expensive for many users, and it must also be paid in Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC). The calls made over VOIP are only a fraction of the cost.

The overseas call (IDD) rate is FEC 4.5 (about 4,000 kyat; US$ 4) to the USA for the first minute; FEC 1.4 for Thailand (about 1,000 kyat). VOIP calls costs about 100 kyat (US$ 12 cents) per minute to the USA and 50 kyat (US$ 6 cents) per minute to Thailand.

The government sold pre-paid GSM SIM cards with cheaper call rates last year, and it was popular among the pubic. Since then, the government has stopped or restricted the sale of SIM cards since the November 2010 general election.

Internet café owners told Mizzima that they have not yet received any official communication about the ban.

There are two public Internet service providers (ISP) in Burma: Yadanapon Teleport and Myanmar Post and Telegraph (MPT).

The new directive will not affect a revenue loss for Internet café operators but only affect Internet users, an Internet café operator in Ahlone Township told Mizzima.

‘If they cannot make oversea calls through these VOIP services, they will instead use the Gtalk and Skype computer to computer service by making a pre-appointment with their friend or family members, since they will not be able to call directly to their phone’, said a café operator.

‘They must wait until their party is online. The internet connection is too slow here, so it will cause more inconveniences and difficulties for our customers’, he said.

Source :  http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5022-government-bans-internet-overseas-calls.html

Tay Za, USDP Secure IT Monopoly

Frustration and fury have been expressed by representatives of Burmese IT companies, including the semi-governmental Yatanarpon Teleport Company, after it emerged that FTTx (Fiber Transfer to X) contracts previously agreed with the military government were to be suspended in favor of a deal with tycoon Tay Za and an IT firm run by the junta's proxy party to establish a dual-monopoly of Burma's broadband networks.

Most of the affected firms have already installed FTTx services in Rangoon and Mandalay, according to agreed designated zones, and stand to lose their investments.

FTTx is a generic term for any broadband network architecture that uses optical fiber to replace all or part of the typical communication systems, including Internet, television and telephone.

Mostly based Yatanarpon Teleport located near city of Pyin Oo Lwin, the companies signed BOT system contracts with the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs [MCPT] in September, sources close to these companies told The Irrawaddy. Many of the deals involved partnership with Yatanarpon Teleport, the country's largest IT firm.

The companies currently holding FTTx contracts are: E-Lite Company, Red Link, High the Princess, Fortune International, MDS, Kinetic Myanmar, Sky Net, and Fisca.

According to the sources, all contracts will soon be handed to the E-Lite owned by Burma's top businessman Tay Za, who is blacklisted under Western sanctions, and the ITCS, which is owned and controlled by the junta's political proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

“We have been working on these contracts for four or five months and have already spent a lot of money in implementing operations,” said a representative of one of the affected companies. “Now we are told to stop. We have been sidelined in favor of Tay Za.”

He said that billions of kyat, or millions of dollars, have already been spent by the affected firms on setting up the necessary infrastructure in Rangoon alone.

“By this way, I don't see Burma as a potential place for foreign companies to work,” he added.

“Our contract is for five years,” said a Sky Net staffer. “But now E-Lite and [USDP-run] ITCS will take over all the IT business in Rangoon. We are being kicked out.

“What about the investment we have outlaid? We are being forced to terminate our business in the middle of operations,” he said.

He add that the business climate in Burma is completely unfair, and that Elite is in a privileged position because of Tay Za's close connection to the military junta.

There are currently 13 WiFi zones in Rangoon, a number that will increase once the FTTx system is up and running. FTTx, unlike ordinary communications technology, can offer high-speed data transfer via underground fiber-optic cables.

“All the concerned companies are really angry at the authorities, especially because the situation is so unfair,” said the Sky Net staffer. “The Rangoon market for this service is growing. E-Lite approached the MCPT and convinced it to give E-Lite a monopoly on the service.”

“We can do nothing about it,” he said. “We have to do what we are told. We don't know if we will get compensation. The government has not made any comment.”

According to sources, the MCPT requested the affected companies to detail their expenditures to date after notifying them that their operations would have to be suspended. But, no compensation has been paid yet, they said.

A source said that although ITCS is registered as a private company, incumbent government officers and USDP members play significant roles in its boardroom, just as they do at Yatanarpon Teleport.

Moreover, he said, the ITCS sells mobile phones and prepaid cards in a joint venture with Myanmar Post and Telecommunications.

Elite Company is a subsidiary of Htoo Trading Co. Ltd, which also belongs to Tay Za. In collaboration with Myanmar Post and Telecommunications, it already has stakes in several related sectors, including: providing a nationwide Internet service via fiber optic cables; manufacturing IT-related materials; importing and distributing mobile phones; setting up CMDA phone lines; and the sale of prepaid phone cards.

Source:  http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20886

Over 6,000 leaders receive UN ICT training

A UN hub for ICT capability development has already trained over 6,100 government executives, policymakers and educators across the Asia Pacific region since 2008. 

The government leaders underwent Asian and Pacific Training Center for Information and Communication Technology for Development’s (APCICT) eight-module programme dubbed Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders, Director Hyeun Suk Rhee told FutureGov Asia Pacific.

Rhee said that the program has been launched in 17 countries in the Asia Pacific which includes Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The training program deals mainly with using ICT for socio-economic development which includes modules on project management and e-governance.

“The Academy aims to equip government officials, decision-makers and development stakeholder with the skills and knowledge to leverage ICT opportunities for socio-economic development,” said Rhee.

Rhee said the Academy has been receiving positive feedback from the participants on which “80 per cent of them noted their Academy training experience in a favourable light.”

To reach a wider audience, the centre also made APCICT Virtual Academy in 2009 and have recorded 3,600 enrollments to date.

Rhee said several partner countries have adopted Academy as a fully accredited training programme for senior-level government officials international partners.

The Academy is being integrated into the Technical Guidance for Chief Information Officers Programme of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in Indonesia.

In the Philippines, an ICT component using the Academy was also added in the qualifying examination for civil servants.

This year, the Academy’s short term objectives launching of the Academy and First National Training of Trainers in India and Second National Academy Workshop in Myanmar and Academy Workshop in Philippines in March.

Localisation of the Academy by partners is also an ongoing activity. Currently the Academy’s training modules that are available in English, Russian, Bahasa Indonesia and Vietnamese.

“Translating Academy content and including local case studies will increase the sustainability of the programme and support from national governments.”

APCICT is also working to enlarge the beneficiary group of Academy training to include students, youth, local and provincial government officials, and civil society organisations.

Source : http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2011/feb/09/over-6000-leaders-receive-un-ict-training/

Myanmar Seeking Stronger Ties With Brunei

Bandar Seri Begawan - Even as Brunei and Myanmar enjoy close relations, the country's ambassador to the Sultanate, Thura Thet Oo Maung, has stressed the need for closer cooperation between the two countries in vital sectors.

In a recent interview with The Brunei Times, the envoy said there are many areas of bilateral cooperation that the two nations should emphasise on in the future.

"We hope that the two countries can strengthen cooperation in vital areas such as education, health, agriculture and communications," said the ambassador, who did not elaborate.

Bilateral relations between Brunei and Myanmar were established on September 21, 1993. Brunei set up its embassy in Yangon in February 1997. Since then both countries had been cooperating in various fields such as trade and education.

Myanmar, together with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, have received training assistance in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector, provided by Brunei Darussalam.

Last Friday, Myanmar's Parliament named Thein Sein as president after getting 408 out of 659 votes.

Following his appointment as Myanmar president, Sein received a congratulatory message from His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

In the message, His Majesty wished Sein much success in his new post, adding that he looked forward to working with the president to strengthen the close relationship between the two countries at the bilateral, regional and international level, especially in pursuing shared interests within Asean. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

Source : http://www.brudirect.com/index.php/2011020739359/Local-News/myanmar-seeking-stronger-ties-with-brunei.html