Myanmar’s leading mobile operator Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) added more than 8.5 million mobile connections over the past year, taking its user base to 20 million.

The state-owned operator had a 46 per cent market share at the end of April, but that has fallen from 54 per cent in Q1 2015 as foreign rivals Telenor and Ooredoo have continued to expand their connections.

Telenor increased its share to 37 per cent after adding more than nine million connections over the past year. It had 15.5 million customers at the end of April compared with Ooredoo’s 6.9 million (which gave it a 16.5 per cent share), according to GSMA Intelligence.

Two years ago MPT had a 100 per cent market share and just 400,000 connections. Telenor and Ooredoo entered the market in Q3 2014.

To celebrate hitting the 20 million milestone, MPT is holding a lucky draw and giving away prizes worth MMK2 million ($1,650) between 20 May and 2 June.