“It is unfair if five lines, out of six, are sold in advance, without having locals informed,” said ADSL applicant Ko Tin Hla, “It is a kind of sale. The more they can provide, the better it is. Then, locals will not have to gather at one place where Wi-Fi is available.”
Six ADSL lines were promised to be provided for the public, with thirty-four Ye Town residents having already applied for the drawing, but five of those lines have sold in advance to the Kaba Yatana Bank, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the MCC Computer Training, The Rainbow Electronic Material Selling store, and the Mya Myint-Moe Hotel.
The Ye Social Society (YSS) opposes the advance sales, which were arranged under the negotiation of the Township administrator on September 15th. The one remaining ADSL line, and another reserved ADSL line, will be provided to local applicants through a drawing-lot system.
“We did this with the purposes of [government] staff not to accept bribes and not to carry out as he/she planned, [in order] to practice negotiation and take up the habits of transparency. Because the administrator cooperated [with us], we are satisfied with that, and we hope such negotiation and transparency practices will be used in the future,” said YSS secretary Ko Aung Naing Win.
After taking aside those of the thirty-four applicants that have already received the ADSL in advance, along with those living in Aung-minkalaw, Aung Thukha, and Aung Myinthar quarters, where access to ADSL lines in not convenient, twenty-six applicants remained for the last ADSL subscriptions. Out of those twenty-six, drawing-lots were chosen, and Ko Moe Aung, owner of the Electronic Material store, and Ko Aung Soe, owner of the Soe-pye Tea Ship won the last two ADSL connections.
Local subscribers in Ye Town had been experiencing problems with the MPT’s 2.75 G, and now people are able to gather at locations with ADSL lines to access free Wi-Fi.
In November 2012, the MPT instituted new fees for ADSL use, charging 50,000 kyat for initial set-up fees, a 17,000 kyat monthly rate for those using a connection speed of 256 Kbps, and an 80,000 kyat monthly rate for those using 2.5 Mbps.
The ADSL high-speed lines offered through drawing-lots is the first time Ye Town residents have received such an opportunity.
