Vietnam's Viettel offers free calls in huge promotion
HANOI - Viettel Mobile on September 20 began the biggest promotion campaign in Vietnam's telecom history when it gives its one million users an estimated 55 million free calls of unlimited duration.
The campaign, which runs from September 20 until November 3, aims to attract 300,000 new subscribers to the military-run Viettel network, said a company spokesperson.
"We want to further trigger Vietnam's emerging mobile market, especially at the end of this year" said Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy general director of Viettel Corporation, the parent company of Viettel Mobile.
A Viettel representative said the campaign gives every Viettel mobile user one free call of unlimited duration daily for the 45 days of the promotion period. That call must be the first call of the day to another Viettel subscriber.
New users of post-paid service will have subscription fees each worth VND179,000 waived, while new users of pre-paid service will get a 100 per cent bonus in their accounts, it said.
The move follows tariff cuts by Viettel's two rivals, Vinaphone and MobiFone, which will next month reduce their monthly subscription fees from VND80,000 to VND60,000, and SMS (text message) service from VND500 to VND400.
Vinaphone deputy director general Pham Quang Hao said industry authorities should examine Viettel's promotion as it "appears to violate anti-dumping laws."
Viettel reached the one million subscriber mark two weeks ago after one year of operation, and is the fastest growing mobile carrier in Vietnam in terms of new users and network development.
The company has become the third largest mobile carrier after Vinaphone and MobiFone, which have 3.5 million and three million subscribers respectively.
Established in 1996 and 1993 and both owned by the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT), they both took seven to eight years to attract a million subscribers.
The company invested nearly VND2 trillion (US$125 million) in its network, and said it would increase its BTS(Base Transmission Station) platforms from 1,000 to 2,000, hoping to raise its user-capacity to 4.5 million by 2006.
The country's cheapest mobile service provider, which bills calls in six second increments, said it aimed to attract a further 500,000 users by year-end.
Vietnam has nearly eight million mobile phone users subscribed to four mobile carriers.
Vietnam News Agency - September 22, 2005.
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