Vietnam's Saigon Postel to roll out telephone network
HANOI - Sai Gon Postel is poised to start rolling out its fixed
telephone
network in Ho Chi Minh City.
The service will cover southern Ho Chi Minh City, including District 7,
Binh
Chanh and Nha Be from September.
The firm will have 500,000 telephone lines in the inner city initially,
but
will soon ask for an extension of its 2,600ha territory.
Charges for telephone installation will be fixed in line with government
regulations, said Sai Gon Postel's general director Trinh Dinh Khuong.
Sai Gon Postel was established in 1995 and licensed by the Ho Chi Minh
City
People's Committee. It is the first joint-stock post and
telecommunications
firm in Vietnam.
The Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT) recently
gave
Sai Gon Postel the go-ahead to participate in the market, after the
Government told it to end its monopoly.
The VNPT also plans to continue reducing charges for several telecoms
services, to bring them into line with regional countries, according to
deputy director of the Department General of Posts and
telecommunications
(DGPT)'s Information Centre Pham Quang Dat.
Under the plan, which has been submitted to the Government for approval,
reductions in telecoms fees will come in two tranches one in early May
and
the other in November.
The corporation will lower fees on inter-provincial and international
calls
and mobile phone subscription by between 10 and 15 per cent. Internet
access
charges will be cut by 50 per cent.
The Ho Chi Minh City Post Company is also getting in on the act, cutting
installation fees for fixed phones on 120 available routes from VND1.5
million to VND1.2 million, between April 14 and May 31.
Vietnam News Agency - April 18, 2002
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