Popularising Telecom - Internet Services

 

The Politburo’s Directive 58-CT/TW dated October 17, 2000 on promoting the development of the information and communication technology (ICT) industry to create new momentums of national socio-economic development. The Directive initiated very innovative and suitable ideas whose values remain unchanged until now. For example, it said “Have policies to promote competitive environment, create conditions for all economic sectors to participate in telecommunications and Internet services and activities.” Besides, the Directive also set targets of ensuring the service quality and charges to be equal or lower than other regional countries. With many very positive changes, the Directive 58 has shed the light on the rapid development of Vietnamese internet and telecom markets in the past 10 years.

 

Opening the telecom market for many different service providers like Viettel, EVN Telecom, FPT Telecom, GTEL and Hanoi Telecom, the Vietnamese telecom has expanded at a booming rate. After 10 years implementing the Directive 58, the ICT application and development has made significant growths and served the process of industrialisation and modernisation and public administration reform. To date, the ICT industry makes up 11 percent of the country’s GDP, is one of seven largest forex earners for the nation, and becomes a backbone economic sector.

 

According to Information and Communications Deputy Minister Le Nam Thang, after 10 years of implementing the Directive 58, the greatest achievement of the Vietnamese telecom industry is bringing mobile service from a luxury service to a popular one and creating an easy access to the service for a vast majority of people. In 2000, the country had only 3.5 million telephone subscribers, including 0.3 million mobile subscribers but it now has 156.1 million telephone subscribers, with 90.32 percent being mobile users. The tele-density is 180.7 lines per 100 residents. At present, the telecom service charge has been lowered to the average rate, which is lower than in regional countries. Typically, mobile service charge is now only VND900 per minute, equal or lower than that in regional countries. The internet market is expanding rapidly but is not booming as it happened to mobile phone. Up to now, Vietnam has 3.38 million broadband internet subscribers, an equivalent to 3.95 percent of the population, and 25.09 million people using internet users, or 29.24 percent of the population.

 

Clearly, the picture of Vietnamese telecom has totally changed. At present, many domestic and foreign companies are competing on the Vietnamese market. From a technologically backward country, Vietnam has now become a bright spot on the world telecom map, with the world’s second fastest growth. According to the latest report on ICT Development Index 2010 (IDI) released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Vietnam was ranked 86^th out of 159 countries and territories in terms of ICT development, higher than many countries in the region.

 

The development of the telecommunications market has generated profound impacts on the Vietnamese economy. From a luxury service, mobile phone is now a service of all social classes and most people. The contribution of the telecommunications industry is not merely confided at 11 percent of GDP but more importantly it generated telecommunications infrastructure, and served as a catalyst and lubricator for the entire economic activities.

 

According to Mr Mai Liem Truc, former Deputy Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (now the Ministry of Information and Communications), the aforementioned success of the telecommunications market, especially the mobile sector, comes from the Government’s early opening of the telecommunications market and usage of modern technologies.