Vietnam military to offer internet service
HANOI - Vietel, a company run by the Vietnamese military, said on Friday
it
would launch Internet services later this month.
A Vietel official told Reuters the firm would launch the services in
Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City in the first stage.
"We plan to start it from the middle of this month, probably first in
Hanoi," she said. The exact date was not set.
She added that Vietel has been running trials for customer feedback in
preparation for the launch, which would make it the country's fifth
Internet
service provider (ISP) in operation, though 12 are licensed.
The existing four now serve less than one million Internet users among
Vietnam's 80 million population.
Last October Vietel started providing long-distance telephone calls
using
the voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) technology.
In May this year it secured a license to provide Internet gateways,
becoming
the third firm in Vietnam permitted to do so after two state-run ISPs,
the
Vietnam Data Communication Co and the Corporation for Financing and
Promoting Technology.
Official media have also reported that Vietel would expand into mobile
phone
services by the end of this year in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the
central
city of Danang.
The government has pledged to cut telecoms charges and Internet access
fees
to lower or equal to those of other countries in the region by 2004
while
allowing more players to join the market.
Reuters - August 2, 2002
|