Regime installs MPT mobile network in Manaung

By Admin 15 Oct 2025

DMG Newsroom

15 October 2025, Manaung
 
In what it has described as a bid to facilitate the electoral process and encourage people to vote, Myanmar’s military regime has installed its MPT mobile network in Arakan State’s Manaung Township, which remains under junta control.
 
Locals said that the military regime began installing the MPT network in and around Manaung town on October 10, with the ostensible aim of facilitating departmental offices and political parties’ campaign activities during the upcoming election.
 
“The MPT mobile network is only available in urban areas and areas within 2 miles of the town. People buy SIM cards in bulk. But SIM cards are very expensive,” said a local man in Manaung.
 
SIM cards are being sold by departmental employees under the military regime and shops close to the military regime, and the price of a SIM card ranges from at least K60,000 to K70,000. The current cost of an MPT SIM card in Yangon is only K13,000 at the upper end of prices.
 
“We have lost contact with our family members who are far away, so we have to buy an MPT SIM card, even though it is expensive,” said a woman from Manaung. “Some people want to stay in touch with their families, but there are also those who cannot buy one because they don’t have the money.”
 
The military regime, which has suffered several military defeats since the start of the battle for Arakan State, cut off telephone and internet lines in Arakan State starting in May 2024.
  
The installation of an MPT mobile network in Manaung follows news in August that the military regime would provide internet and telephone services to Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, and Manaung townships.
 
“The military regime is not installing an MPT mobile network out of goodwill for the people. I think it is because it is necessary and related to the military regime’s election. If they are truly generous, they should also make SIM cards available at regular prices. They should allow the people to use the internet freely,” said another local man in Manaung.
 
Currently, communication lines are only available in and around Manaung town.
 
Junta departments are reportedly teaching people how to vote and how to cast ballots for the upcoming election in Manaung.
 
Locals say the Rakhine Nationalities Party (RNP) is organising and putting up party signs in some villages in Manaung Township.
 
Manaung is an isolated island town in the Bay of Bengal, with a population of about 60,000, over 130 villages and five urban wards, according to the 2019 Inter-Censal Survey. Locals rely on water transport to travel to other townships.
 
The military regime has banned all travel without permission since November 2023, leaving local people in Manaung facing challenges including access to healthcare and livelihoods.