Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Shwe Byain Phyu to respond to an article by Reuters alleging that “…M1 had held talks with Shwe Byain Phyu about a partnership... [and] made a joint proposal to take over the Telenor unit that was accepted by the junta leadership...”

The article also alleges that "...Shwe Byain Phyu would be the majority shareholder... [and] the [company’s] chairman has a stake in the military-owned telco Mytel...[This] deepens the risk to Myanmar people, whose personal data is exposed through the sale...".

Shwe Byain Phyu Group did not respond.