WAP costs soar in Vietnam
HANOI - Mobile phone customers are railing against the latest price
changes for using wireless application protocol (WAP) services, saying
Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT) has set the
rates too high.
Under the new pricing scheme, VNPT has scrapped registration and
subscription fees, but raised the charge for post-paid users to around
VND900 a minute (six US cent) (including value-added tax) and about
VND1,750 per minute for pre-paid users. If they access the Internet, an
extra VND100 per minute is payable - lifting the price of using the WAP
service to VND1,850.
WAP services allow customers to access a wider range of services
through their mobile phones, particularly sending e-mail and surfing the
Internet.
Customers are fuming, saying the current pre-VAT call charge for
post-paid WAP users was as little as VND636 per minute, plus
pre-VAT Internet access costs of no more than VND250 per minute.
Many believe that because WAP is a value-added service, it should be
even cheaper than basic telephony and Internet services.
The WAP service providers say they cannot make a profit unless they
charge at least VND600 to VND900 a minute, including Internet access
fees. That was their proposal to VNPT, and they were as surprised as
consumers when the State-run giant came out with its VND1,750 figure.
"The current WAP charge is obviously to high. I have no idea on what
basis they have set that price," said one mobile phone user. "I also don't
understand why it is VNPT that has set the price, and not the
Department General of Posts and Telecommunications (DGPT), which is
the overarching telecoms agency."
Market observers say the price hike may do further damage to the
already limited attractiveness of WAP services. Accessing the Internet
via a mobile phone is still very slow and difficult in Viet Nam. Both users
and operators complain of congested channels and limited digital storage
capacity. "And now it is so costly as well - no one will want to use the
WAP service," said another cell phone user.
In early March, the DGPT announced it would start slashing telecoms
prices as of July 1. Under the program, post-paid card users will see
their hook-up fees cut by 20-25 percent, and also enjoy a 10 percent fall
in calling charges. Pre-paid users will receive fee reductions
commensurate with the cuts to post-paid charges last year and this year.
Internet access fees will also be dropped to the level in neighboring
countries, and the current fixed charge system will be scrapped in favor
of flexible charges.
Industry experts say the DGPT has unofficially acknowledged that
current charges are too high for phone users in Vietnam, which has also
kept profits rolling in at VNPT and other telecom firms. The question,
they say, is whether the new pricing regime was a hasty VNPT decision,
or whether the DGPT simply overlooked WAP when it drafted its
price-cutting roadmap. Only time will tell.
Asia Times - June 2, 2001.
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