Vinaphone to launch Vietnam’s first 3G Network.
VinaPhone, the Vietnamese mobile operator has announced that its 3G network will be launched on October 12th. Vinaphone will be first to go live on 3G in Vietnam.
VinaPhone’s deputy director Ho Duc Thang told a media house that Vinaphone has finalised the installation of thousands of 3G transceiver base stations will announce 3G tarriffs on the day of launch.
Vinaphone officially launched in June 2006 and currently has over 13 million subscribers. Vinaphone is among the top three mobile operators in Vietnam now.
Motorola has earlier announced that it had won the 3G upgrade contract from Vinaphone.
Three more operators in Vietnam have a 3G license – Viettel, EVN Telecom-Hanoi Telecom and Mobifone are testing their networks and will be launching shortly.
Prepaid mobile subscribers must register
English.Vietnamnet writes…Deputy Minister of Post and Telematics Le Nam Thang said that his ministry is compiling the detailed mobile subscriber management plan, but the enforcement time remains unclear.
Under the plan, all the prepaid mobile subscribers will have to register to the service providers, otherwise, they will be rejected. Prior to that, the ministry planned to ask the prepaid subscribers to make registration right in the first quarter of the year, however, as stated by Mr Thang, the plan has been delayed.
Mr Thang said that the policy makers are considering thoroughly in order to ensure the benefits of the involved parties, clients, enterprises and governing ministries.
The frame plan on taking management over prepaid mobile subscribers proposed by the Ministry of Post and Telematics (MPT) has been approved by the Government, under which several prepaid subscribers will have to register their services and declare personal information. The registration is planned to be completed within 18-24 months.
Vietnam now has 20mil mobile subscribers, 80 of which are prepaid subscribers. According to Deputy Minister of MPT Tran Duc Lai, the number of mobile subscribers has been growing so fast that service providers cannot control them. Mr Lai said that the management over prepaid subscribers is being implemented in many other countries and this proves to have no impact on enterprises and customers.
However, in several countries like China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, where there are regulations on prepaid mobile subscribers management, tourists still can easily buy simcards at sales agents without having to show passports or declare personal information. In Europe, only France and Germany now keep management over prepaid subscribers.
Nguyen Manh Hung, Deputy Director General of Viettel, a mobile service provider, said that the management will slow down the growth rate of mobile subscribers, and it will make the management expenses higher.
