Vietnam Mobile Market Growth Remains Unsustainable
Vietnam’s telecom market kept expanding in 2009 despite the global economic slowdown but a market observer said its growth remained unsustainable.
The U.K.-based market researcher Business Monitor International (BMI) said in its Vietnam telecommunications report for the fourth quarter of 2009 that the Average Revenue per User (ARPU) fell, possibly affecting revenues of mobile operators.
BMI estimates that the mobile ARPU rate for Vietnam fell by 8% in 2008 to reach US$6 and 21% in 2009 due to lower customer spending.
It forecasts a continued slide of 13.7% in 2010 and 7.4% in 2011 after tariff cuts approved by the Ministry of Information and Communications will take effect from Jan. 15 this year.
By the end of 2013, the ARPU is predicted to have fallen to around US$3.6.
Third-generation (3G) services, which are a new element on the mobile market, still had minimum contribution in 2009, BMI said. The number of 3G subscribers is now about 100,000 as the services just came online from October, 2009.
The cost and availability of 3G compatible handsets are expected to be the main obstacles to 3G growth in the early years of forecast. BMI predicts there will be around 4.5 million 3G customers at the end of 2013, or 2% of the total mobile user base.
Despite unsustainable elements, telecom providers still posted impressive revenues in 2009. Vietnam Post & Telecommunication Group (VNPT) had total revenues of VND78 trillion last year, up 35% on year, Deputy Director Bui Thien Minh said.
Viettel’s revenues doubled to VND60 trillion in 2009 from VND33 trillion in 2008. The figures would be higher this year when the company launched 3G services and more value-added services, said deputy CEO Nguyen Manh Hung.
The ministry predicted in late 2009 that the local telecom market could expand 62% from 2008 to VND150 trillion in revenues in 2009.
(Saigon Times, www.store.businessmonitor.com)
Tags: Vietnam Telecom
Posted by VBN on Jan 9 2010. Filed under Telecommunication. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
Subscribe via Email 
Subscribe in a Reader 
Follow us on Twitter 
Connect on Facebook
China Business News