Something that makes this extra interesting is that two of the major telcos of Myanmar are subsidiaries of companies from other countries: Telenor from Norway and Ooredoo from Qatar. Both of which are majority owned by their respective governments. According to [1] they account for 28 of 54 million subscriptions.
It will be interesting to watch how these two companies continue to comply with such orders. These events are making the news in Norway with a Telenor angle. If things keep escalating and Telenor is shown to be in any way complicit in any human rights abuses, it will be a scandal in Norway, and the Telenor leadership will have to answer to the government. Norway has cultivated an image as a human rights champion of sorts on the international stage, and is expected to take this sort of development very seriously. There is precedent in the VimpelCom case [2] where the financial crime police, parliament and the ministry of commerce got involved. Senior leadership had to testify before parliament committees, the police made corruption charges, and the chairman of the board resigned after the minister of commerce indicated she did not have confidence in him. So Telenor Myanmar and it's Norwegian leadership is now under pressure from the government of Myanmar to comply, while also being answerable to the government of Norway for the possible consequences of doing so.
Meanwhile, Qatar is under international pressure because of human rights issues on their own turf, and the international eye turned on them because of the upcoming FIFA World Cup. In fact, Norway's national team has been calling them out recently [3]. They might also want to tread very carefully around this issue.
As others have alluded, I have major doubts Telenor is able to accomplish anything here. Myanmar's military already faces practically unanimous derision. They will just nationalize Telenor's telco assets and try to figure out how to fill in the gaps. If they don't care about shutting off the telco's for weeks, they won't care again.
How is it an option not to comply when a government disallows use of the airwaves in its country?
That’s not a question of ‘human rights championing’, it’s a question of sovereignty. It’s not realistic to expect a country to challenge that, it’s basically a declaration of war.
I don't see how any consequences inflicted upon the foreign owned telcos by their respective governments is much more than theatre as viewed from the perspective of Myanmar citizen.
How will any of that help to reduce the burden of human rights abuses?
I'll admit though, it is entertaining to watch a political scandal unravel. Predictable though.
> and is expected to take this sort of development very seriously
Yeah, but what does "taking it seriously" really mean? They can either comply or not. If they comply, the world will call Norway hypocrites. If they don't, you think Myanmar's military would give two fucks about forcefully destroying their facilities, killing their employees along the way?
It's no only a matter of optics and it's cynical to reduce it to a mere PR (ergo, money) problem. It's catch 22.
It will be interesting to watch how these two companies continue to comply with such orders. These events are making the news in Norway with a Telenor angle. If things keep escalating and Telenor is shown to be in any way complicit in any human rights abuses, it will be a scandal in Norway, and the Telenor leadership will have to answer to the government. Norway has cultivated an image as a human rights champion of sorts on the international stage, and is expected to take this sort of development very seriously. There is precedent in the VimpelCom case [2] where the financial crime police, parliament and the ministry of commerce got involved. Senior leadership had to testify before parliament committees, the police made corruption charges, and the chairman of the board resigned after the minister of commerce indicated she did not have confidence in him. So Telenor Myanmar and it's Norwegian leadership is now under pressure from the government of Myanmar to comply, while also being answerable to the government of Norway for the possible consequences of doing so.
Meanwhile, Qatar is under international pressure because of human rights issues on their own turf, and the international eye turned on them because of the upcoming FIFA World Cup. In fact, Norway's national team has been calling them out recently [3]. They might also want to tread very carefully around this issue.
[1] https://www.charltonsmyanmar.com/myanmar-economy/telecommuni...
[2] https://www.thelocal.no/20151105/former-vimpelcom-ceo-seized...
[3] https://twitter.com/FRfotballBen/status/1374809071497383953