S-Fone to be Vietnam’s second mobile service JV
SPT (Saigon Post and Telecommunication Service Joint Stock Corp) an operator of CDMA network S-Fone, has reportedly finalized legal procedures to become Vietnam’s second mobile service joint venture. The joint venture reports have been submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Planning and Investment.
SPT expects the joint venture license will be granted in June and business cooperation contract (BCC) with foreign partner South Korea SK Telecom will be liquidated in September. Once licensed, it will become second after Beeline, a 6-to-4 joint venture Global Telecommunications Corp (Gtel) under the Ministry of Public Security and Russian cellphone operator VimpelCom.
SKT invested $US218 million in S-Fone in 2006 while the investment lifespan of BBC will last until 2016.
But then SKT announced to stop increasing its investment, which was expected to reach $500 million. SPT’s investment in S-Fone has been $US13 million so far.
On August 9 the government allowed S-Fone to divert into a joint venture from a business cooperation contract, becoming the second mobile service joint venture in Vietnam.
Local partner SPT will hold an 80 percent stake, with the remainder held by SK Telecom, and SPT will buy back the foreign stake within two years.
VinaPhone starts White iPhone 4 sale (Vietnam)
VinaPhone, Vietnam’s mobile operator has started the sales of White iPhone 4 global version at its stores.
In the first phase, VinaPhone will sell the product to customers registering to use its iTouch 1, 2 and 3 post-paid packages. The telecom provider offers discounts of up to 50% for the packages.
A 16-gigabyte version of Apple’s latest iPhone is around US$624 while the 32-gigabyte version is over US$ 729.6.
Initially, the enterprise imported 1,000 units of the two versions. VinaPhone will sell the device to postpaid customers only. The smart phone is only distributed officially in Vietnam via Vinaphone and Viettel.
Vietnam restricts handset imports to sea only
In a bid to fight forge and trade fraud, Vietnam has issued new limitations on mobile handset imports.
As per the new rules, mobile handsets can now only be imported from Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hai Phong.
According to reports, the new rules, which will take effect from 1 June, stipulate that distributor’s can no longer import handsets via air.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade also requires distributors to show different documents when importing handsets. Distributors worry that the new rules will add to costs and delay of new product that are to be launched as importing handsets will be much slower via sea.
Viettel to spend $250 mn in Peru fibre optic network (Vietnam)
Viettel is planning to invest US$250 million in the installment of its own fibre-optic network in Peru.
According to Peruvian transport and communications minister Enrique Cornejo, the planned US$250 million will be invested over the next five years.
According to Cornejo, Viettel is planning to build a fibre-optic network nationwide. Connections will primarily cover Peru’s largest cities, to be later expanded across the country, including the mountains and the Amazon area. The fibre optic network already installed in Peru only runs along the coast, from Tumbes to Tacna and in parts of Arequipa and Huancayo (Junin).
The minister added that the problem is in the rest of the country, the entire communications system uses other channels, including satellite and wireless [technology], but do not have the QOS provided by fibre optic cables in terms of speed, durability, and resilience. Therefore, the government recently ruled that large infrastructure projects in Peru must include ducts for the installation of fibre optic cables.
Vietnamese companies fail to use LTE trial licences
More than a half of seven Vietnamese companies that received permission to trial LTE technology have done nothing with their licence.
A local newspaper Buu dien has quoted its sources as saying that most of the companies have taken no actions towards providing 4G services, though they got the licenses a long time ago. Especially, a company reportedly has not come to the Ministry of Information and Communication to receive the license. Of the seven licensed 4G service providers, only the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication (VNPT), and the Military telecom company Viettel have been taken steps towards the implementation of the projects.
In October 10, 2010, VNPT announced that it had deployed the first LTE-based BTS (base transceiver station) at the Internet Building in bloc 2A, in the Thang Long International Village in Cau Giay District of Hanoi, with which the Internet access speed could reach 60Mbps.
The first phase of the VNPT’s project on running on the trial basis of the wireless broadband services using LTE technology will be carried out by VDC, a subsidiary of VNPT, with 15 BTS in Hanoi with the coverage of one kilometer for every station.
Vietnamobile introduces VMax promotion (Vietnam)
Vietnamobile, mobile operator has launched a VMax promotion. Subscribers, who activate their VMax SIM and make outgoing calls to other mobile networks, will get one minute of free talk time for each minute of the call.
The promotion is relevant for the first four minutes of outgoing calls. Calls to other networks are charged at US$0.03 per minute. VMax is one of Vietnamobile’s three starter packs available and is priced at US$3.12. Customers get US$9.6 in their account of which US$5.52 can be used for off-net calls.
Viettel to start testing LTE in Ha Noi, HCM City (Vietnam)
Viettel will start testing LTE services in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. Between 12 May and 31 August, Viettel will provide 240 subscribers with LTE USB devices to test LTE services.
In September, the Ministry of Information and Communications granted five licences for testing 4G technologies to Viettel, VNPT, CMC, FPT, and VTC.
Viettel plans to expand in Argentina (Vietnam)
Viettel is planning to expand to Argentina. Viettel deputy general director Nguyen Manh Hung revealed that this ambition at a meeting with the Argentine secretary of communications, Carlos Lisandro Salas.
In March, Viettel was granted a mobile licence for Peru and the company plans to continue to study other markets in Latin America.
Viettel to introduces 4G network testing (Vietnam)
Viettel will be introducing the testing for 4G network for 240 customers in two cities of Hanoi and HCM City.
The first testing for 4G technology is scheduled to be launched on 12 May in Hanoi. As planned, Viettel’s 240 mobile subscribers in Hanoi and HCM City will try the 4G technology from 12 May-31 August.
Each customer will be provided a 4G USB device to use the 4G services in Hanoi’s two districts of Dong Da and Ba Dinh and two districts in HCM City including Tan Binh and Tan Phu.
Viettel’s testing and trial use will enable the network operator assess the actual capacities. Based on which, Viettel will decide to invest and prepare the infrastructure for the official service supply. However, the time for the official launching of 4G service is undisclosed.
Viettel enhances 3G coverage in southwest (Vietnam)
Viettel has launched additional 3G base stations in southwest Vietnam. The company deployed nearly 1,100 3G base stations in thirteen provinces and cities in the area.
The company has a total of 7,100 2G and 3G base stations in the southwest area.
