CITCC (Myanmar) Co. Ltd has already made a name for itself on an international scale, and is looking to apply such industry acumen to a country currently enjoying a rapid network infrastructure evolution.
China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation – or CITCC as it is more commonly known – has formed an almost unrivalled reputation in the region over the years as a one-stop, comprehensive telecommunication service provider, and has for the past seven years replicated this market-leading influence in the emerging domain of Myanmar.
Offering everything from consultation, to operation, to maintenance across the telecommunications field, as well as mobile network construction operations, broadband network construction activities, fibre optical cable construction services, satellite site construction works, and many more; the 60 year progression of the Group has culminated in a formidable portfolio perfectly set up to progress Myanmar’s communications infrastructure.
“While our headquarters have more than 60 years of experience, 40,000 staff, nine mainland subsidiaries, nine overseas subsidiaries, and a footprint of more than 40 countries around the world, our history in Myanmar goes back to 2010, before registering on 20 May, 2013,” introduces General Manager, James Shang. “Currently, we have more than 160 employees in the country, with 65 percent of them local, and within this entity our main business revolves around infrastructure construction services; including fibre optical cable design and construction, telecommunication site civil works and tower erections, MW&BTS installations, site acquisition and design, a fibre maintenance project, and an Fttx project.
“In 2015, we also obtained our Network Facilities Services licence which has helped us to even further vary our business in Myanmar, making our focus on customer requirements a key competitive advantage of ours.”
Another primary differentiator of CITCC’s comes from its ability to conduct turnkey operations; its service remit allowing for the business to formulate customisable, bespoke, flexible solutions to each customer’s requirements. And in successfully completing a host of projects, from start to finish – from consultancy and planning, through to acquisitions, design, procurement, logistics, construction, and after-sales maintenance – the Company has firmly established itself as a contractor of choice in Myanmar.
High speed of development
While affirming itself as a largely local entity in Myanmar virtue of its human resource and supply chain management strategy, CITCC is able to balance this out and compound its significance with concerted international backing from its headquarters in China.
Inevitably beneficial from a financial perspective of course, it also helps in terms of leveraging new efficiency strategies and in replicating continuous improvement practices that have already been tested and optimised in larger markets.
“Because of the high speed of development in Myanmar, many operators are facing cash flow pressures, and CITCC Myanmar is no different,” Shang explains. “This is also where being part of a larger organisation helps though, and our headquarters has given us a lot of support when it comes to policy, cash flow, HR, technology and many other aspects over the years.
“We can also then work on continuous improvement areas including quality control, EHS control, management objectives, customer service, and also corporate social responsibility (CSR).
“CSR is very important, especially overseas,” Shang continues. “It’s not just the ability to showcase CSR but to establish a long-term friendship between different nationalities and countries. Therefore CITCC attaches a lot of importance to this area of CSR.
“An example came in 2015 when the largest flood disaster in 40 years befell the Sagaing, Magwe, Rakhaing and Ayeyarwady areas. We made a lot of donations to assist the crisis in the form of medicines, blankets, towels, rice, water, and candles; while we also joined blessing ceremonies along with Buddhist associations.”
And in forming such a reliable, solid and stable grounding to the business, CITCC is able to also capitalise on opportunities that enter Myanmar, or to even drive trends and opportunities on occasions.
This is especially the case as the country begins to enjoy the luxury of 4G network speeds, opening the door to an operator like CITCC to harness this potential and to enhance capacities and quality across the network.
The correct selection
The final, and perhaps most important differentiator stems from the business’s aforementioned commitment to personnel enrichment, a localised human resource strategy, and the loyalty that is subsequently repaid by the Company’s workforce.
Shang attributes the core facets surrounding this ethos to be fair treatment in the form of job role and salary, as well as through remuneration and internal promotion; and secondly, through ongoing technical transfer and training.
“Thirdly, it’s about creating a warm environment, and the result is a very excellent team that we have here in Myanmar,” Shang enthuses. “Nobody complains about the work being difficult or hard, nobody complains about overtime, nobody complains about any customer requests. We just have one collective target, and that target is success. It’s a great honour to be part of the team at CITCC Myanmar.
“Here, we are like a family and that makes it easier to overcome difficulties.”
And courtesy of each enriched individual is an abundance of experience and professionalism geared towards helping the Company’s customers receive the optimum service.
“One by one, we see successful cases of customers accepting that CITCC is the correct selection,” Shang concludes. “And this will only pick up speed more in the future with infrastructure construction still a key direction in Myanmar over the next three-five years. We will therefore work hard to capitalise on our advantage in our respective fields so that customers in the country can enjoy a higher speed of network delivery, a better quality of network, and safe construction of this infrastructure.
“To achieve this, we will also place a lot of focus on marketing here in Myanmar, ensuring that we spread the word of CITCC’s contribution to Myanmar’s telecommunications field.
