Vietnam launches first private ISP
Vietnam has launched its first private Internet service provider in
an effort to boost Internet usage in the communist country.
Ho Chi Minh City-based One Connection, set up a year ago,
launched its Internet service operation on Friday, said Nguyen
Quoc Cuong, the company's technical chief.
Currently, there are five operating ISPs in the country, all of them
state-owned.
Cuong said two other private ISPs have been licensed by the
government but they have not begun operating yet.
The Internet, which was introduced in 1997 in Vietnam, is strictly
regulated by the government and service providers are required
to monitor the information on their network.
There are nearly 200,000 Internet subscribers and about 1
million Internet users in Vietnam, which has about 80 million
people.
The government has set an ambitious target of 1.1 million to 1.3
million Internet subscribers and 3.5 million to 4.2 million Internet
users by 2005.
The Associated Press - January 11, 2003.
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