Telephone subscribers in Vietnam hits 7 million
HANOI - The number of telephone subscribers in Vietnam hit 7 million this month, a 40 percent increase over last year.
A statement from the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT) said the 2003 figure already exceeded its projected target for 2005.
The new numbers mean that 8 percent of Vietnam's population are telephone subscribers. About 2.5 million of those counted are mobile phone subscribers.
According to the state-owned telecom giant, landline telephone services were available in 93 percent of the communes on the country's mainland and 100 percent of communes on its islands.
Some government reforms may have helped telephone services become less costly and thus more popular. Since April, tariffs on 12 telecom services have fallen by up to 40 percent.
The Ministry of Post and Telematics has also licensed six new enterprises to provide telecom and Internet services in Vietnam in the last eight months. There are now 13 private telecom companies in the country.
Up until 1995, VNPT was the sole service-provider in the country, but there are now five other state-owned telecom companies there.
Asia Times - December 23, 2003.
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