Myanmar plans to more than triple the number of phones in the country within two years, a private journal reported Tuesday. The state-run Myanma Post and Telecom envisages increasing the telephone density to three connections for every 100 people before the fiscal 2005-2006, said the Myanmar News Gazette. The current density is .78 phones for 100 people.

This will be done by installing 38,500 landline connections by 2005 under a $30.2 million contract the state monopoly signed in June with Alcatel Shanghai Bell of China, the journal said, quoting U Tha Oo, the general manager of MPT.

Myanmar will also provide 95,000 cellular phone connections under a $12.5 million contract signed in July with ZTE
Corporation (000063.SZ) of China, the Gazette said. MPT has made preparations to set up the new cellular phone network, which will be ready by November this year, according to earlier reports.

Myanmar now has 418,698 telephones including over 63,000 mobile phones, serving a population of 53 million. In 1988, the country had only 67,016 phones. Despite the increase, telecommunications in Myanmar lag far behind its neighbors Thailand, India and China.