South Korean consortium in 250 million dollar Vietnam mobile phone deal
HANOI -
South Korean consortium SLD Telecom Pte Ltd has won Vietnamese government approval for a 250 million
dollar deal to set up the country's third mobile phone network, local partners Saigon Postel said Monday.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam gave the green light Friday, as President Tran Duc Luong wrapped
up the first Vietnamese state visit to South Korea since the former foes opened diplomatic relations in 1992, a
company spokeswoman said.
The approval came despite objections from state-owned Vietnam Post and Telecoms (VNPT), which had
sought to protect its existing monopoly, the spokeswoman said.
Under the deal, SLD Telecom, a Singapore-registered joint venture between South Korea Telecom, LG and
Dong A, will be responsible for equipment provision, consultancy work and technical assistance for the
CDMA-technology network which is due to go into operation next year.
Saigon Postel, a privatised former subsidiary of VNPT, will be responsible for managing the network.
The partners will share pretax profits on a 50-50 basis even though Saigon Postel's capital contribution to the
joint venture is limited to just eight million dollars.
The two sides hope to reach 150,000 to 200,000 subscribers by 2005 and one million by 2010, the Saigon
Postel spokeswoman said.
Vietnam has just under a million mobile phone subscribers in a population of 79 million but the market is
growing by some 30,000 subscribers a month, an industry analyst told AFP.
State-owned VNPT has hitherto had a monopoly of mobile phone services here either through its own
Vinaphone network or through its Mobiphone joint venture with Sweden's Comvik.
Vietnam's telecomunications charges are among the highest in the world and are regularly cited by foreign
investors as a major impediment to investment here.
Agence France Presse - August 27, 2001.
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