Viettel, Vietnam's largest mobile carrier by subscriber base, onOctober 6 asked the Information and Communications Ministry (MIC) toallow it to apply the same tariff on intra-network and inter-networkcalls.
This is the second time the mobile carrier asked MIC forpermission to apply the same tariff. The company made the same proposallast July to attract more subscribers.
Under its proposal,Viettel will cut tariffs on calls of Viettel subscribers to othernetworks by 21.6 percent to match the tariffs on calls within theViettel network.
"Revenue from the mobile connection feecurrently accounts for seven percent of our total revenue, and if weapplied the same tariff on intra-network and inter-network calls, therevenue will be reduced by an extra 1.5 percent," said Le Dang Dung, theViettel vice general director.
"However, we hope the new tariffswill help our subscribers manage their bills more easily. Our revenuewill be reduced in the beginning, but in the long term, we hope thelower tariffs will attract more subscribers to the network," Dung added.
Accordingto Viettel, the tariff cut will also help it to cope with new trends inthe mobile telecommunications industry, which is focusing more on 3GInternet-based services or over-the-counter (OTT) services rather thanregular calls.
Last July, Pham Hong Hai, Director of MIC'sTelecommunications Department, said the ministry would ask Viettel tosubmit details of the production costs of its telecommunicationsservices. Based on that report, the ministry will decide on Viettel'srequest.
A source close to MIC revealed that the country's twoveteran mobile carriers, Vinaphone and MobiFone, have yet to respond totheir competitor's request regarding tarrifs.
Earlier this year,MobiFone separated from the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group,which also manages Vinaphone. The separation means calls betweenMobiFone and Vinaphone are no longer intra-network.
While theVietnamese telecommunications market has grown rapidly, Viettel,Mobifone and Vinaphone still maintain a monopoly, with a total annualturnover of 5.5 billion USD last year.
Vietnam has around 20 million 3G subscribers among more than 130 million mobile cellphone users, according to MIC.-VNA
This is the second time the mobile carrier asked MIC forpermission to apply the same tariff. The company made the same proposallast July to attract more subscribers.
Under its proposal,Viettel will cut tariffs on calls of Viettel subscribers to othernetworks by 21.6 percent to match the tariffs on calls within theViettel network.
"Revenue from the mobile connection feecurrently accounts for seven percent of our total revenue, and if weapplied the same tariff on intra-network and inter-network calls, therevenue will be reduced by an extra 1.5 percent," said Le Dang Dung, theViettel vice general director.
"However, we hope the new tariffswill help our subscribers manage their bills more easily. Our revenuewill be reduced in the beginning, but in the long term, we hope thelower tariffs will attract more subscribers to the network," Dung added.
Accordingto Viettel, the tariff cut will also help it to cope with new trends inthe mobile telecommunications industry, which is focusing more on 3GInternet-based services or over-the-counter (OTT) services rather thanregular calls.
Last July, Pham Hong Hai, Director of MIC'sTelecommunications Department, said the ministry would ask Viettel tosubmit details of the production costs of its telecommunicationsservices. Based on that report, the ministry will decide on Viettel'srequest.
A source close to MIC revealed that the country's twoveteran mobile carriers, Vinaphone and MobiFone, have yet to respond totheir competitor's request regarding tarrifs.
Earlier this year,MobiFone separated from the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group,which also manages Vinaphone. The separation means calls betweenMobiFone and Vinaphone are no longer intra-network.
While theVietnamese telecommunications market has grown rapidly, Viettel,Mobifone and Vinaphone still maintain a monopoly, with a total annualturnover of 5.5 billion USD last year.
Vietnam has around 20 million 3G subscribers among more than 130 million mobile cellphone users, according to MIC.-VNA
