Vietnam's booming telecom calls to investors

Hanoi (VNA) - Foreign businesses at the International Telecommunications Conference in Hanoi agree that Vietnam's high growth in the telecom industry will make it an attractive market in the coming years.

According to the International Telecommunication Union, in recent years,
Vietnam has become one of the countries with the highest growth in
telecommunications.

By the end of May, the number of telephone subscribers had reached 58
million in the country, including 48 million mobile phone subscribers,
representing a rate of 67 telephones per 100 people.

Vietnam has so far this year boasted nearly 6 million internet
subscribers with nearly 19.5 million users. The number of ADSL Internet
subscribers sharply increased, from 50,000 in 2004 to 1.5 million in April
2008

Head of Norway's Telenor representative office in Vietnam , Ola Ree, said
the Vietnamese telecommunication market, particularly mobile phone business,
is making spectacular steps forward, which is beyond his company's
expectation.

Telenor, which began its operation in Vietnam in 2005, expects to become
a strategic partner of one of the Vietnamese mobile phone businesses.

Ola Ree said Telenor is committed to participate in the local market as a
strategic investor when state-owned mobile phone businesses are allowed to
be equitised.

Chief representative of France 's Alcatel-Lucent in Vietnam , Raoul Ros,
said Vietnam 's telecommunications industry has grown faster than other
regional countries in recent years, particularly mobile phone, broadband
and fixed phone services.

Although Vietnam is still in the early stage of World Trade Organisation
admission, it is seeing new market opportunities, Raoul said, adding that
telecommunication development for international integration has created
greater opportunities for telecom investors in Vietnam .

In addition to mobile phone service, Alcatel-Lucent is cooperating with
Vietnamese partners in training human resources.--Enditem