Vietnam to launch new mobile phone network
HANOI - Vietnam is set to launch a new mobile phone network this week using U.S.-developed technology for the first time, which is expected
to cut costs nationwide, an executive said today. The service will begin Tuesday, initially covering 12 cities and provinces, said Nguyen Hoang
Long, marketing manager of S-Fone, a business venture between government-led Saigon Postel Co. and South Korea's SLD Telecom
consortium.
Long said the company expects to expand its coverage to all 61 cities and provinces by next year. Customers will be able to save nearly 20
percent by using the S-Fone network because after the first minute, they will be charged in 10-second intervals instead of one-minute blocks
charged by other mobile phone operators.
The company began negotiating in 1997, but a shortage of local experts on code division multiple access, or CDMA, technology and
bureaucracy have delayed the project, he said.
S-Fone is targeting up to 200,000 subscribers by the end of this year and hopes to become Vietnam's leading mobile phone service provider in
five years, Long said. He added that Vietnam is one of the fastest growing mobile phone markets in the world, with an annual increase of some
30 percent in recent years.
The project has an investment of US$230 million, and the two sides will split profits evenly. The South Korean group, led by SK Telecom Co.,
also includes LG Electronics and Dongah Elecomm.
Currently, Vietnam has 2 million mobile phone users and that number is expected to double by 2005.
The Associated Press - June 30, 2003
Vietnam allows Internet telephony
HANOI - Vietnam's Ministry of Post and Telecommunication has allowed the country's online service providers (OSP) to launch low-cost
Internet phone services, state media said on Saturday.
Under a decision issued by the Ministry on Friday, Vietnamese OSPs will be able to start providing domestic and international PC-to-PC and
PC-to-Phone calls over the Internet from July 1, the Thanh Nien newspaper said.
The Ministry also announced that Internet Phone service will be charged with an average price of 1,400 dong (nine cents) per minute for
international calls, while the service providers will decide the charges for PC-to-PC calls.
The price for an international call on a standard line costs currently around $1 per minute.
Also on July 1, a new high-speed Internet service will be launched in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the northern port city of Hai Phong by the
Ministry's Viet Nam Datacommunication Company.
The Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line services, whose maximum charge is fixed at $75 a month, can provide 24 hour Internet access at speeds
up to 40 times faster than traditional modems, on a standard analogue phone line.
Agence France Presse - June 28, 2003
High-speed Internet services charged at maximum of 75 USD a month
HANOI - The maximal charge is fixed at 1 million VND (75 USD) a month for the Asymmmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) services in Viet
Nam, said the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunication Ministry.
In Viet Nam, the ADSL can provide 24 hour Internet access at speeds up to 40 times faster than a traditional 56 Kbps modem on a standard
analog phone line.
The new Internet services will be launched in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City and the northern port city of Hai Phong on July 1 by the Viet Nam
Datacommunication Company under the Post and Telecommunication Ministry.
The Ministry also announced Internet Phone service charges with an average price of 1,400 VND (90 cents) per minute for international calls.
Vietnam News Agency - June 27, 2003
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