~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

[Year 1997]
[Year 1998]
[Year 1999]
[Year 2000]
[Year 2001]

France Telecom wins contract to install 540,000 telephone lines in Vietnam


France Telecom has signed a Business Cooperation Contract (BCC) with Vietnamese post office and telecommunications operator VNPT, as part of Vietnam's program to develop its telecommunications networks. The contract covers the installation of 540,000 telephone lines over a period of five years in Ho Chi Minh province, with revenue sharing for 15 years. The required investment amounts to approximately $470 million.

In addition to France Telecom's technical expertise and investment capacity, its subsidiary France Câbles et Radio (FCR) will provide organizational assistance and transfer of know-how. The license required to start operations should be signed shortly by the Vietnamese government.

France Telecom offers extensive experience in the development, operation and modernization of telecommunications networks in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Through FCR, it is proposing a technical and financial partnership that will enable VNPT to quickly meet its ambitious equipment installation and service quality goals.

The Business Cooperation Contract focuses on two key areas:

Financing and installation (switching, transmission, cabling) of 540,000 new lines, doubling the current number. Management assistance for the operator, involving the seconding of experts in all areas, as well as sustained training programs, to ensure concrete transfer of know-how.

This contract consolidates France Telecom's position in Asia, considered a key market for the group's international development. It also strengthens ties with Vietnam, with which France Telecom has enjoyed a relationship since installing an earth station in Da Nang in 1990.

FCR, already present in Argentina and Mexico since late 1990, won a major contract for France Telecom in September 1995, covering the installation of 516,000 telephone lines in the Indonesian island of Sumatra, over a period of three years. Last February, FCR acquired a 51 percent stake in CI-Telcom, the operator for Côte d'Ivoire. On July 21, 1997, France Telecom, via FCR, acquired one-third of the Senegalese national operator, Sonatel, becoming a strategic partner to the government.

With consolidated revenues of approximately $29.6 billion and 33 million telephone lines, France Telecom is the world's fourth largest telecommunications carrier. In addition to its local and long-distance telephone businesses, France Telecom offers both businesses and consumers a variety of services, including data transmission, wireless telephony, Internet access, cable TV, multimedia and value-added services. On December 31, 1996, France Telecom became a "Société Anonyme", a French public corporation.

Operating in more than 50 countries, and with over 160,000 employees worldwide, France Telecom exports its expertise in accelerated network modernization, wireless services, engineering and consulting.

A major milestone in the group's international development came in January 1996, when France Telecom teamed up with Deutsche Telekom and Sprint of the United States to create the joint venture Global One, which offers a single source for the solution of voice and data needs of businesses, carriers, and consumers around the world.

France Telecom, July 29, 1997