(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatari telecoms giant Ooredoo yesterday pledged to introduce "affordable" phone services to Myanmar next year as it pumps $15bn into one of the world's few remaining frontier mobile markets. The firm, which in June along with Norway's Telenor won bids to provide mobile coverage to a nation where less than 10 percent of the population has telephone access, should be formally awarded its 15-year 3G licence by the end of this year. It will then start to roll out its mobile services - including money transfers and weather data for farmers - ithin six months, a company executive told reporters in Yangon. "People can use Ooredoo's services next year... we need to build quickly, not only in cities but also in rural areas," Ross Cormack said. Few in Myanmar can currently afford mobile phones and SIM card fees, which in the past cost about $200, although the government is now trying to make prices more affordable. Asked how calls will be priced - in a country where about a quarter of the population live below the national poverty line - Cormack said: "I can't say exactly but you will find it attractive and affordable." In July Myanmar's government said Ooredoo had "committed" to selling SIM cards for about $1.5 and to charging roughly four cents for off-peak calls. "We will deliver SIM cards and all the services at every road-side store and to villages," Cormack said.