New Zealand State-Owned communications company Kordia has announced a contract to build cellphone towers for Burma’s ruling military junta.

Use of cellphones in Burma is restricted to members of the ruling elite. To buy a cellphone, a Burmese citizen must obtain a recommendation from a military official and pay a fee of NZ$1500, in a country where average incomes are less than NZ$2 a day. In announcing plans to extend the cellphone network, the Junta has said that licenses will be granted to members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, a pro-Junta militia that was used to crush pro-democracy protests in 2007.

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