Seeking its day in the sun

IT IS often said that in Myanmar, you don't have the Internet. You have Facebook.

That folksy view of the Internet may mask the fact that since 2016, an estimated 90 per cent of the country's 54 million people have been armed with a basic smartphone to connect with one another online.

The investments pouring in from countries such as Japan, Qatar and Norway have translated into new, tall, cell towers poking into the skies in the country's rural outskirts.

The freshly wired-up conditions of Myanmar have created new demands for connectivity powered by solar energy - and these are needs that Singapore-based startup SolarHome have latched upon since its launch in late 2016.

SolarHome does business by renting out "electricification-in-a-box". These units hold a small solar panel with a battery that soaks up enough sunlight to power a single household's electricity needs - including phone charging - for abo…