S-Telecoms to Invest US$40.3Mln Expanding Cellphone Network in 2005

S-Telecoms to Invest  US$40.3Mln Expanding Cellphone Network in 2005

S-Telecom, which operates Vietnam's first CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) mobile phone network S-Fone, has a plan to invest  US$40.3 million from to July this year to upgrade its network, according to a corporate official.

"S-Telecom will expand the coverage of its network, launch new value-added services and roam with CDMA networks in other countries," said chief executive Ho Hong Son.

This year, the company will install a new switchboard in Danang City, expand the coverage of S=Fone to 26-29 cities and provinces and upgrade its hardware and software in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

"We target to sign up one million subscribers and expand the coverage of the network nationwide by 2006," Son said.

This year, S-Fone is expected to sign up 340,000 subscribers, raising its total number of subscribers to 500,000 by the year's end. Last year, the network signed up 146,000 subscribers.

S-Telecoms is a  US$230-million business cooperation contract between the Ho Chi Minh City-based Saigon Telecoms Co. and the SLD Telecoms Co. of South Korea.

• (Investment)