Viet Nam records 10 million new telephone subscribers

Viet Nam posted a record 10 million new telephone subscribers in 2006, marking a year-on-year increase of 188 percent, announced the Ministry of Post and Telematics.

So far, Viet Nam has 25.5 million telephones, over 4 million Internet subscribers and nearly 8,000 post offices located in localities nationwide.

The impressive growth of the Internet broadband services market and the ministry's allowance for the registration of the second-level .vn domain name have proved the development potential of the Vietnamese telecommunications market.

The important role of information technology (IT) was also demonstrated by the participation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as head of the National Steering Committee on IT, the first ever government leader holding this position.

Viet Nam is also deemed as an attractive and trustworthy investment destination to international investors in the field of IT. The US Intel Corp., the world's largest computer chip manufacturer, for example, increased its investment capital in Viet Nam to 1 billion USD from 605 million USD to build a chip assembly and testing plant in a hi-tech zone in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Multimedia Corporation (VTC) started in November this year to provide the digital television service via mobiles in Viet Nam. Consequently, Viet Nam has become the third country worldwide to develop this service.

In 2006, Vietnamese telecommunications businesses started to penetrate into international markets. The Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT), for instance, has promoted investment to produce copper cables in Laos and expand its network in Cambodia. VNPT also opened a representative office in the US in preparation for its operation in this market.

The Viet Nam Military Telecom Corporation has also provided the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), mobile and Internet services in Cambodia.

Particularly, the Law on Information Technology was ratified by the National Assembly in 2006. According to Deputy Minister of Post and Telematics, Tran Duc Lai, this is the first time a law of this kind has been issued after 61 years, creating a legal framework for the sector's operation.

(Source: VNA)