Vietnam reaches 6,000 users within 6 months of Internet launch
HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam has 6,000
Internet subscribers only six months after connecting with the Internet,
according to Vietnam Post and Telecommunications (VNPT).
The number would be about 10,000 if it included email-only users, VNPT
also said.
Vietnam Data Communications Corp. (VDC), which designed the VNN
network, has taken the lead among the four ISPs in the country, with 4,571
Internet subscribers and 2,300 customers using the email-only service.
The VNN network is connected via two cable lines to Hong Kong and the
United States, and two satellite connections to Australia and the United
States.
Vu Hoang Lien, director of VDC, said the network has 96 telephone lines
serving Internet users in Hanoi, 96 lines in Ho Chi Minh City , and 30 lines in
Danang. He added that VNN can serve as many as 20, 000 users with its
existing network equipment.
Lien said that VDC was appointed as the country's sole Internet access
provider (IAP) for the Internet in Vietnam.
"That appointment has resulted in some trouble for other ISPs," said Tran Ba
Thai, technical manager for the National Information Technology Institute
(NIT). Thai said that the Internet in Vietnam is developing slowly due to its
confusing management system.
Also, Thai said that NIT's Netnam network has 800 Internet subscribers and
3,000 email users.
FPT has 1,400 users hooked to the networks of its affiliate Internet Center.
And Saigon Postel (SPT) is the fourth ISP.
Trinh Dinh Khuong, manager of Saigon Postel, said the company only has
100 subscribers who have free access to the Internet in the trial period of six
months.
"We face a problem in pricing," he said. Khuong said the 400 dong
(US$0.03) for one minute of Internet access is too expensive for local users.
Lien of VDC said that all major equipment for VNN is supplied by Cisco
Systems Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. In the southern part of the country,
the equipment is operating at near full capacity, he noted.
Dinh Viet Hao , deputy director of VDC and chief of VDC Center II, said
that VNN's network in Ho Chi Minh City was designed to serve a maximum
of 2,000 users, but that its number of customers in the region has reached
3,100.
Hao said about 530 new VNN customers are added to the Internet each
month.
VDC is seeking a suitable foreign partner to upgrade VNN's equipment to
meet the increasing demands, Hao said. IBM Corp. is one of the potential
candidates, he noted.
Compaq Computer Corp. and 3Com Corp. are the main equipment
suppliers to FPT.
AsiaBizTech - June 12, 1998.
Customer of Vietnam Internet
Private (Vietnamese private businesses and individuals) :44%
Foreign (Foreign businesses and individuals) :37%
State (State-owned businesses) :14%
Others (Governmental agencies, NGOs, diplomatic mission) : 5%
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