Viettel bets on future 3G success

Viet Nam’s leading mobile phone service providers are now offering 3G technology, and each it has its own strategies for competing in the sector. Viet Nam News reporter Mai Huong spoke to Duong Van Tinh, deputy director of the military-run telecom Viettel, about the development of 3G.

Some say 3G is only a marketing gimmick to help mobile operators attract subscribers and polish their brands. How would you respond to that?

Would you spend trillions of dong just to polish your brand when people already know you? 3G technology has become a vital trend for the development of the telecommunications sector.

Second-generation services only required wide network coverage and cheap rates to be successful, but it’s different for 3G services. International experience demonstrates that the decisive factor for 3G success is digital content, not the technology standard.

Is it true that domestic mobile service providers have so far offered only basic services, not value-added ones?

It is true to say that Viet Nam doesn’t yet have special digital services for 3G users, and this is one of the reasons that the number of 3G subscribers has fallen below expectations.

However, it’s not a disaster. We think that up to 80 per cent of 3G network capacity will be used for wireless internet services which target customers who use deskop computers and laptops. Therefore, the main purposes for 3G users will be to connect to internet. This is consistent with 3G in other, similar markets.

The reality is that some major mobile service providers around the world, including Vodafone in Britain, have failed with this service. Why are prospects better in Viet Nam?

Giants can make mistakes and fail. A technology must ensure time factors when being introduced in order to be successful. In developed countries, where broadband has widely developed, investment in 3G technology before endpoint devices were ready led to failure.

In Viet Nam, basic telecommunications services such as mobile phones have become popular and we only have the foundation for development of a broadband network.

Viettel has invested heavily in 3G technology and is one of the first operators with 3G infrastructure nationwide. Was this a risky investment, since revenues from this service have not lived up to expectations?

Investment itself always includes risk factors. However, no business invests a huge amount of money in a project without calculation and preparation.

Over the past seven years, many people said we were crazy when we invested in a mobile phone network with coverage expanding to all districts and cities and even rural and mountainous areas nationwide. They though Viet Nam’s rural regions were large with poor people who would not use mobile phones. However, we believed that the poor would not be poor forever and we had to invest there before they became rich.

We believe broadband will become popular, cheap, and cover will extend everywhere, and 3G is the only solution for making broadband popular in Viet Nam. Viettel has invested in 3G with the “network first, business later” motto. By the end of this year, our 3G network is expected to cover 95 per cent of the country’s area and 98 per cent of the population. — VNS

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Posted by VBN on Nov 4 2010. Filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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