Vietnam military to privatize mobile phone company
HANOI - Vietnam's third largest mobile phone company Viettel, owned by the communist nation's military, will soon be partly privatised, company officials told AFP.
The Vietnam Military Electronics and Telecommunications Co. had recently received an acceptance letter for the deal from the government, several company sources said Monday without providing further details.
According to state media, the military will keep 51 percent of the company to retain control of the provider that has signed up about 2.3 million users since its debut in 2004.
Vietnam's mobile phone market is now shared by four main providers, including Vinaphone and MobiFone under the state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corp, and S-fone, a network owned by South Korean consortium SLD Telecom.
Vinaphone and MobiFone also said last month they would soon privatise to diversify their capital sources and improve their competitiveness.
The country's telecoms sector has witnessed major changes in the last few years and will come under even more pressure if and when Vietnam becomes a member of the
World Trade Organization (WTO).
Vietnam is considered by some observers to be the second fastest growing telecoms market in the world after China. There are about 12 million mobile phone users in the country of more than 82 million people.
Agence France Presse - March 7, 2006.
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