EVN Telecom

HCMC – Vietnam’s telecom market will see tougher competition this week as EVN Telecom revealed on Monday that it would officially commercialize 3G service on Wednesday the become the fourth 3G provider after VinaPhone, MobiFone and Viettel.

Nguyen Thanh Hai, head of EVN Telecom Center in the South, confirmed with the Daily via the telephone that “EVN will launch 3G service this Wednesday to enhance its foothold on the market.” According to Hai, EVN Telecom will develop the most modern network on its strong infrastructure network with 40,000 kilometers of internal cable. Besides, it has also has submarine optic cable which connect Vietnam with other countries through international gates located at Mong Cai, Lang Son and Moc Bai with total capacity of 24.5Gpbs.

The submarine cable is invested by TATA Communication with the participation of EVN Telecom, linking Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan with an additional connection to the Philippines and Vietnam.

Under the project, EVN Telecom initially has the right to use a transmission speed of 50Gbps and increase its connectivity capacity later.

Hai said that with the strong infrastructure network, EVN Telecom would take full advantage of the network to increase its capacity to meet the increasing demand of clients. “Initially, EVN Telecom introduces basic 3G service like Video on demand, Mobile Tivi and other added value services. However, to make a difference from other providers, Mobile Tivi is what EVN Telecom focuses on for development,” he said.

In the initial stage, EVN Telecom will supply 3G wave nationwide. However, the strong wave zone will focus on major cities like HCMC, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Danang and Can Tho.

Up to date, EVN Telecom still keeps a secret about its price policy and will publicize this on Wednesday.
Currently, EVN Telecom has around 3,000 base transceiver stations and will expand its system up to 5,000 stations later this year to widen its coverage zone. In the first year, EVN targets to lure one million 3G subscribers.

Up to date, EVN Telecom has around six million subscribers, four million of which are fixed wireless telephone subscribers and the remainder mobile phone subscribers. The Ministry of Information and Communication reported that May saw 17.5 million new mobile subscribers, increasing by over 26% over the year-earlier period.

Up to date, the country has 148.9 million subscribers, 129 million of which are mobile service ones.

By Hien Nguyen – The Saigon Times Daily