Myanmar junta approves sale of Telenor subsidiary

Myanmar's junta has approved the sale of Norwegian telecoms giant Telenor's Myanmar subsidiary to Lebanese conglomerate M1 Group, both companies said on Friday, in a move activist groups warn could put sensitive customer data in the hands of the military.

The Southeast Asian nation has been in chaos since a coup last year sparked huge protests and a bloody military crackdown on dissent, sending the economy into freefall.

In July, Telenor announced that it planned to divest its lucrative subsidiary Telenor Myanmar, whose value it had written down to zero, and later cited junta demands that it install monitoring equipment on the network as a reason for leaving the country.

"We could not endure the situation in Myanmar any longer as local laws conflicted with international laws in addition to our own values," Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke told AFP.

"The day the military took over, the battle for customer security was lost. The reality is that the military is responsible for issues we have been experiencing, concerning customer data and human rights," Brekke added. After months of waiting, on Friday Telenor and M1 -- which is helmed by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati -- both said the sale had been approved by the Myanmar junta.

"M1 Group has been informed that the Myanmar Investment Commission has approved Telenor Group's application for the sale of Telenor Myanmar to Investcom PTE Ltd, an M1 Group affiliate," M1 said in a statement.