The state-owned telecoms network in Burma/Myanmar is to expand its CDMA network capacity by some 150,000 lines in the two main cities of Yangon and Mandalay this month, reports the Chinese Xhinua news agency.

Significantly, the capacity of the restricted network in the new capital city, Naypyidaw is not being affected. Phone services in the capital are even more tightly regulated than usual for other areas in the military run country.

The number of CDMA phone lines stood 205,500, while that of GSM phones hit 375,800 and auto-phones reached 153,344 in the country in 2008, according to statistics.

The Mobile World analysts estimates that the country had nearly 540,000 subscribers, representing a population penetration level of just 1.2%.

The 3G phones were selling for 2.8 million Kyat (US$ 2150), while a GSM costs about 2.3 million Kyat (US$ 1800). A CDMA costs about 2.1 million Kyat (US$ 1615). The prices put the phones out of reach of ordinary citizens and limits them to the government or favoured business contacts.

Government and military contacts tend to find it easier to get the paperwork to own a mobile phone - but often then rent out those phones to business users.