O’Brien’s bid for Burma licence fails

Media and telecom owner Denis O’Brien has failed in his bid to secure a telecommunications licence in Burma, with Norway’s Telenor and Qatar’s Ooredoo being granted the rights to develop the south-east Asian country’s mobile network.

Mr O’Brien recently described Burma as being one of the most exciting market opportunities, for telecoms, on the planet.

Via his Digicel business — which targets developing economies — he had teamed up with billionaire investor George Soros and Burmese businessman, Serge Pun in a consortium to bid for one of the two sought-after licences.