Summary
This Annual Publication profiles the vibrant telecom market in Vietnam that has been attracting considerable attention for its creativity. Whilst by some measures the country is still in a comparatively early stage of its telecommunications development, Vietnam has been aggressively expanding its national infrastructure and growing its subscriber bases across all market segments. Progress in developing the mobile market has been especially impressive; and whilst the Internet market, and particularly the roll-out of broadband Internet, is still very much in the early development phase, the last three years have seen a significant surge in the country's online access.
Vietnam has become the target for an energetic new round of investor interest of late. Even in the wake of the global financial crisis numerous, foreign telcos were turning their attention to this most significant of South East Asian markets. The market is proving highly attractive to investors at the moment. It is generally agreed that the country has come out of a period of wishful thinking-based on the belief that it could 'go it alone.'
The government has overseen the introduction of a modest level of competition into the telecoms market and this, combined with a generally improved economic climate within the country, has triggered a round of strong growth in the telecom sector. More recently the move to allow an increased level of 'equitisation' (the Vietnamese government's word for 'privatisation') has sent a clear message to investors that the rules are changing in a positive way and the investment door has been opened.
A significant milestone in this changing business environment was Vietnam's accession to the WTO in 2007; it could be said that this effectively provided a formal confirmation of the changes that had been taking place. It has still not become completely clear, however, what form the government's involvement in the telecom sector will take in the future. Also of some concern are the constant postponements of real action on the equitisation process. A somewhat surprising development within Vietnam itself has been the cross-sector interest in telecoms.
While there has been strong growth in Vietnam's mobile sector (around 120 million subscribers early in 2010, 135% penetration), the country's fixed line subscriber growth has not been so impressive. With the government seeming to be hedging somewhat on the fixed-line statistics, this market segment has been struggling to a certain degree over the last few years. It seems that growth has now flattened out. In the meantime, the government continues to demonstrate a certain ambivalence about the Internet; government reticence has not, however, stopped the Internet market from at least starting to move along a solid growth path. Internet user penetration was running at an impressive 25% in early 2009, with the increasingly 'hot' broadband segment of that market expanding at an annual rate of around 50%.
Market highlightsVietnam's mobile market had reached the 120 million subscriber mark in early April 2010.The country's annual growth rate in mobile subscribers was running at around 50% in 2009 but appeared to be moderating into 2010.Interest in broadband services in Vietnam was finally picking up and in a sustained fashion.The 2009 year saw the country's broadband Internet market extend a period of strong growth (around 50% annually) that had started in 2006.Overall broadband penetration remained relatively low (4% of population), but all the signs were that this expansion of the broadband market would continue in the short to medium term, at least.In an interesting pattern that differed from other markets, Vietnam has a fixed-line market that is growing vigorously, fixed subscriber numbers jumping by 35% in 2009.Following on from the successful launch of its Vinasat-1 satellite in early 2008, Vietnam was already moving towards the country's second venture into the satellite market, with VNPT having contracted Lockheed Martin for the 2012 launch of Vinasat-2.Despite what at times seemed painfully slow progress on regulatory change, the reality is that change has happened and Vietnam's telecom sector is now a vastly different market from what it was a decade ago.The industry is still awaiting further progress on the 'equitisation' of Vietnam's state-owned telecom operators.Vietnam:-key telecom parameters-2009-2010Category | 2009 | 2010 (e) |
Fixed-line services: | | |
Total number of subscribers19.0 million | 22.5 million |
Annual growth (e)35% | 18% |
Fixed-line penetration (population)22% | 25% |
Fixed-line penetration (household)70% | 78% |
Broadband Internet: | | |
Total number of subscribers2.97 million | 4.20 million |
Annual growth44% | 40% |
Broadband penetration (population)3.4% | 4.7% |
Broadband penetration (household)15% | 20% |
Mobile services: | | |
Total number of subscribers111.4 million | 127.0 million |
Annual growth46% | 15% |
Total 3G subscribers5 million | 10 million |
3G as percentage of total mobile5% | 8% |
Mobile penetration (population)130% | 140% |
Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.
Table of Contents
1. Key Statistics
2. Telecommunications Market
2.1 Overview
2.2 Surging mobile market
2.3 Introduction of 3G
2.4 Background to development
2.5 Analysis: the government's role
2.6 Ministry statement
2.7 Graft
2.8 Public utility telecommunications fund
3. Regulatory Environment
3.1 Background
3.1.1 Ministry of Posts and Telematics (MPT)
3.1.2 Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)
3.2 Domestic fixed-line competition
3.3 Tariffs
3.4 International voice traffic and tariffs
3.5 Numbering plans
3.6 Foreign investment
3.6.1 Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement
3.6.2 World Trade Organization (WTO) accession
3.7 Liberalisation
3.8 Privatisation of state-owned enterprises: 'equitisation' process
3.9 Registration of prepaid mobile services
4. Major Fixed Network Operators
4.1 Overview
4.2 Vietnam Post & Telecommunications (VNPT)
4.3 Saigon Postel
4.4 Viettel
4.5 VP Telecom/EVN Telecom
4.6 FPT Telecom
4.7 GTel
5. Telecommunications Infrastructure
5.1 National telecom network
5.1.1 Background to development
5.1.2 Payphones
5.1.3 Coordination of infrastructure development
5.1.4 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
5.1.5 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
5.2 National infrastructure projects and equitisation
5.2.1 SK Telecom
5.3 International infrastructure
5.3.1 Background to development
5.3.2 Submarine cable networks
5.3.3 Satellite networks
6. Broadband Market
6.1 Overview
6.1.1 Broadband and Internet statistics
6.1.2 Competition in the broadband market
6.2 Background to Internet development in Vietnam
6.2.1 Regulatory environment
6.2.2 Proposed Cyber Law
6.3 Broadband technologies
6.3.1 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
6.3.2 Cable modem
6.3.3 Wireless broadband
6.3.4 Satellite Internet
6.4 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
7. Digital Media/Digital Economy
7.1 Vietnam's broadcasting market
7.1.1 Overview
7.1.2 Cable TV
7.1.3 Satellite TV
7.1.4 Mobile TV
7.1.5 Film content censorship
7.2 E-commerce
7.2.1 E-commerce development
7.2.2 Government planning and regulation
7.3 E-Government
7.3.1 E-NA
7.3.2 E-taxation
7.4 E-education
8. Mobile Communications
8.1 Overview of Vietnam's mobile market
8.1.1 Mobile statistics
8.1.2 Background to market development
8.1.3 Regulatory issues
8.1.4 Tariffs and revenue
8.1.5 Market restructuring: Equitisation
8.2 Mobile technologies
8.2.1 GSM and CDMA
8.2.2 Third Generation (3G) services
8.2.3 Development of 4G
8.3 Mobile voice services
8.3.1 Prepaid
8.3.2 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
8.4 Mobile data services
8.4.1 Short Message Service (SMS)
8.4.2 Multimedia Message Service (MMS)
8.4.3 Instant messaging (IM)
8.4.4 Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
8.4.5 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
8.4.6 Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
8.5 Mobile applications
8.6 Major mobile operators
8.6.1 Mobifone
8.6.2 Vinaphone
8.6.3 CityPhone
8.6.4 S-Fone (SLD Telecom)
8.6.5 Viettel
8.6.6 EVN Telecom (formerly VP Telecom)
8.6.7 Vietnamobile (formerly Hutchison Vietnam/HT Mobile)
8.6.8 GTel Mobile
9. Forecasts
9.1 Overview
9.2 Forecasts-fixed-line market-2015; 2020
9.3 Forecasts-Internet services-2015; 2020
9.4 Forecasts-mobile services-2015; 2020
10. Glossary of Abbreviations
Table 1-Country statistics Vietnam-2009
Table 2-Telephone network statistics-March 2010
Table 3-Internet user statistics-2009
Table 4-Broadband statistics-2009
Table 5-Mobile statistics-March 2010
Table 6-National telecommunications authorities
Table 7-VNPT fixed-line subscribers and teledensity-2000-2009
Table 8-Fixed lines in service and teledensity-1990-2011
Table 9-Broadband subscribers-2003-2011
Table 10-Broadband subscribers and household overview-2009
Table 11-Internet users and penetration-1998-2011
Table 12-Internet subscribers-1998-2011
Table 13-Total international Internet bandwidth-2003-2010
Table 14-DSL subscribers-2003-2009
Table 15-Key broadcasting statistics-2009
Table 16-Mobile subscribers-1995-2011
Table 17-Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change-March 2009
Table 18-Mobile subscribers and market share by operator-March 2009
Table 19-Mobile services revenue-1993-2009
Table 20-Mobile services sector estimated ARPU-1998-2009
Table 21-Mobifone subscribers-1998-2009
Table 22-Vinaphone subscribers-1998-2009
Table 23-S-Fone subscribers-2003-2009
Table 24-Viettel subscribers-2004-2009
Table 25-EVN Telecom subscribers-2006-2009
Table 26-HT Mobile subscribers-2006-2009
Table 27-Vietnamobile subscribers-2009
Table 28-Forecast fixed line subscribers and penetration rates-2015; 2020
Table 29-Forecast Internet subscribers and penetration rates-2015; 2020
Table 30-Forecast mobile subscribers and penetration rates-2015; 2020
Exhibit 1-Overview of telecommunications development in Vietnam-1993-2010
