Vietnam to Set up Telecommunication Management Department

Vietnam to Set up Telecommunication Management Department

The Ministry of Post & Telecoms is seeking permission from the Government to set up a Telecommunication Management Department to separate the ministry's policymaking function and policy implementing function, and to deal with enterprises' complaints about connections, a ministry official said.

"One of the reasons that make new telecom companies in the country uncompetitive is the high connections fees, which they have to pay to connect to the national network under the management of the State-run Vietnam Post & Telecoms Corp. (VNPT)," said deputy minister Mai Liem Truc.

Truc says the Telecommunication Management Department will be a supervising body independent from the Government and the Ministry of Post & Telecoms.

Addressing the rumor that non-VNPT firms account for no more than one tenth of the local telecoms market, killing competition, Truc says VNPT is holding only 70-80 per cent of the landline service market while other telcos are expanding their market shares rapidly.

"The Vietnam Datacommunication Co. (VDC), for instance, now accounts for 50 per cent of the Internet market and 35-40 per cent of the VoIP service market," he said.