Reuters-Myanmar allows direct diall

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Subject: Reuters-Myanmar allows direct dialling, but at a price 

Myanmar allows direct dialling, but at a price
06:47 a.m. Aug 05, 1999 Eastern
YANGON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government said on Thursday it
would lift restrictions on international telephone calls but users would pay
a much higher rate for the service.

An official of the communications ministry said all telephones in the
country would now be allowed to dial international numbers directly.

But such calls would be billed in dollars or in dollar-denominated Foreign
Exchange Certificates (FECs) at a rate that works out at around 28 times
higher than the old system.

The official, who declined to be identified, said about 70,000 telephones
out of the nearly 100,000 in the capital Yangon could now make international
calls directly.

The remaining telephones would be given this facility when they had
undergone technical modification, he said.

Previously, only a few hundred phones were allowed to make direct overseas
calls and most callers had to be connected by operators. Most subscribers to
the direct dialling telephones were hotels or private companies.

Under the new system, calls to Bangkok will be charged at $1.40 per minute,
compared to just kyat 17 (five U.S. cents) per minute previously charged by
operators.

However, subscribers with existing direct dial telephones will get a rate
cut. They previously had to pay $2.69 per minute for calls to Bangkok.