Norway’s telecom company Telenor has just posted quarterly earnings that lagged estimates, citing the unexpected persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, and said it was still awaiting the Myanmar authorities’ approval for the sale of its Myanmar business, Reuters reports.
According to the report, Telenor wrote off the value of its Myanmar operations earlier this year following the military coup in February, and in July agreed to sell its business in Myanmar to Lebanese investment firm M1 Group for $105 million.
It has since cited pressure from the junta to activate intercept surveillance technology as the primary reason for its exit. Myanmar accounted for 7% of Telenor’s earnings last year.
Chief Executive Sigve Brekke told Reuters that the current status of the process of getting the deal approved by Myanmar authorities in up in the air.
The Myanmar junta has asked Telenor executives not to leave the country pending regulatory changes.
For now, Telenor continues to run its Myanmar business on a daily basis, Brekke told Reuters.
