Telecom giants put the squeeze on smaller players

Although Viet Nam’s mobile telecom costs are already low compared to many Asian countries, service providers are looking to cut their charges further in a race to expand their market share.

Last July, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) approved a proposal by military-run mobile phone service provider Viettel to reduce phone tariffs by 10-15 per cent. This brought Viettel’s charges to levels below Vinaphone and Mobifone.

Getting the nod

But just few days later, the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), which operates both Vinaphone and Mobifone systems, also reduced charges by 10-15 per cent for their post-paid subscribers after getting the nod from MIC.

As the owner of two mobile phone and one landline networks, VNPT has reduced sharply its charges for local calls.

Currently, the monthly subscription for post-paid service offered by Mobifone and Vinaphone is VND49,000 ($2.5). Charges for internal and external calls are VND880 and VND980 per minute respectively.

Viettel’s monthly subscription fee for post-paid users is VND50,000 and costs for inter-network and extra-network calls for postpaid users are VND890 and VND990 per minute.

For prepaid subscriptions, costs for internal calls and calls to other networks at Vinaphone are VND1,180 and VND1,380 per minute. Corresponding costs at Viettel are VND1,190 and VND1,390 per minute.

VNPT has millions of subscribers for its Vinaphone, Mobifone and VNPT fixed landlines, therefore its customers enjoy much benefit from its cut on internal call charges.

Among other mobile phone service providers, including Vietnamobile, S-Fone and EVN telecom, there is not much different in costs for post-paid packages. But their charges are a little higher than the three large players.

Viettel, Mobifone and Vinaphone in recent months have launched promotion programmes offering 100 per cent extra on their phone cards, meaning an additional cut of 50 per cent.

The race to offer lower charges among the big three have made it very difficult for smaller mobile phone service providers to compete and maintain their market share. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Telecom, Vietnam telecom maket