Decree number 55 important to internet development in Vietnam
The Internet cafe business has been
flourishing in Vietnam, with more than
3,000 establishments in Ho Chi Minh city
and 500 outlets in Hanoi sprouting up in
recent years. However, these booming
businesses now have to deal with Decree
number 55, the Vietnamese
Government's latest move to regulate the
country's Internet access market.
Decree number 55, which goes into effect
today after being issued about two weeks
ago, requires that all Internet cafes sign
business contracts with recognized ISPs
in order to continue providing their Net
surfing services. Cafes that fail to do so
with any of the five existing ISPs in Vietnam will be fined up to VND5 million (US$333).
However, the Vietnam General Department for Post and Telecommunication (VGDPT), which
oversees the development of the Internet in the country, has yet to address certain issues faced by
Internet cafe owners.
A cafe owner was quoted on Vietnam Television as saying that his cafe leases lines from two of the
five ISPs, and that despite calls to both ISPs to clarify what he should do, he still did not receive
satisfactory answers. The ISPs had apparently not received detailed guidelines from the VGDPT.
In response to such queries, VGDPT director Mai Liem Truc said, "The public Internet has
developed in a spontaneous way over the past years. We acknowledge the importance of
developing the public Internet to further serve people's demands from now on. We will issue
circulars to clarify the operation for Internet cafes soon."
Still, the new decree has been regarded as an instrument that will lessen the amount of red tape
hindering the development of the Internet in Vietnam.
It has opened the country's Internet access market to private and foreign-owned companies wanting
to enter as ISPs and online service providers (OSPs), which typically provide e-learning and online
lottery services, as well as medical and news portals.
The playing field for Internet exchange providers (IXPs), however, is still restricted to state-owned
enterprises.
Experts say up to 10 new ISPs will start up within this year as a result of Decree number 55,
increasing the pool of competitors for existing ISPs Vietnam Datacommunication Company (VDC),
the Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology (FPT), NetNam, SaigonNet, and Vietnam
Electronics and Telecoms Company (Vietel).
Currently, only VDC and FPT are fully functioning ISPs and have - between them - captured 90
percent of the market. NetNam, an Institute of Information Technology spin-off company, is still
financially weak and latecomer SaigonNet is slowly gaining more market share. Vietel has yet to
offer any services after obtaining its license to operate as an ISP, choosing instead to focus on
providing VoIP services to the local telco market.
But even if the number of ISPs in Vietnam does grow, there will not be full-blown competition
among the service providers as they will only be able to compete on service offerings to Internet
surfers - pricing is still fixed by the Post and Telecommunication Department.
VGDPT has yet to issue evaluation criteria with which the new entrants will be measured against.
According to Truong Dinh Anh, director of FPT Internet, the governing body should carefully screen
applicants to ensure that they are financially strong, technically able and adequately staffed to fulfill
their long term commitment to their customers.
There is more to be done for the development of the Internet in Vietnam. Decree number 55 is one
step forward - it shows, at least, the Government's firm commitment to foster a better environment
for the Internet to develop in Vietnam.
By Dao Yen - Internet News - September 10, 2001.
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