Burma Internet Slowdown Continues

By WAI MOE

Myanmar Teleport, one of two Internet service providers in Burma, says its nationwide Internet slowdown will continue. No date of completion was announced.

The company said work on its “SEA-ME-WE-3” cable is ongoing.

“Currently, we do not know the schedule for repair completion,” the company announced on Thursday.

The announcement was the fourth time a deadline for repairs was cancelled. The slowdown began on Mar 21.

Compared to other countries in Southeast Asia, Internet service in Burma is unreliable and very slow.

Businesses, especially in the export-import and tourism sectors, the media and Internet cafés have all been affected, according to businessmen in Rangoon.

Formally known as Bagan Cyber Tech, Myanmar Teleport, according to an Internet group watchdog, the OpenNet Initiative, is reportedly the infrastructure arm of the Myanmar [Burma] Internet system.

Another internet provider is the state-owned Ministry of Post and Telecommunication.

The military government introduced Internet service in 2000. The junta bans access to most independent media including the Burmese exiled media, dissident and human rights Web sites, and all blogs and proxy sites.

Often Internet users in Burma have been target by authorities. After the crack down on the monk-led demonstrators in September 2007, the junta cut Internet access in the country for two weeks.

“Myanmar [Burma]’s authoritarian military junta is slowly expanding access to the Internet while maintaining one of the world’s most restrictive systems of control,” said the OpenNet Initiative.

“Despite the fact that less than 1 percent of Myanmar [Burma] has access to the Internet, the government has targeted online independent media and dissents with the same commitment it has demonstrated to stifling traditional media and voices for reform,” according to the watchdog group.