(Japanese Site)
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| Vietnam Reaches 6,000 Users Within 6 Months of Internet Launch
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June 12, 1998 (HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam) -- Vietnam has 6,000
Internet subscribers only six months after connecting with the
Internet, according to Vietnam Post and Telecommunications (VNPT).
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The number would be about 10,000 if it included email-only users,
VNPT also said.
Vietnam Data Communications Corp. (VDC), which designed the VNN
network, has taken the lead among the four
ISPs in the country, with 4,571 Internet subscribers and 2,300
customers using the email-only service.
The VNN network is connected via two cable lines to Hong Kong and
the United States, and two satellite connections to Australia and
the United States.
Vu Hoang Lien, director of VDC, said the network has 96 telephone
lines serving Internet users in Hanoi, 96 lines in Ho Chi Minh City
, and 30 lines in Danang. He added that VNN can serve as many as 20,
000 users with its existing network equipment.
Lien said that VDC was appointed as the country's sole Internet
access provider (IAP) for the Internet in Vietnam.
"That appointment has resulted in some trouble for other ISPs," said
Tran Ba Thai, technical manager for the National Information
Technology Institute (NIT). Thai said that the Internet in Vietnam
is developing slowly due to its confusing management system.
Also, Thai said that NIT's Netnam network has 800 Internet
subscribers and 3,000 email users.
FPT has 1,400 users hooked to the networks of its affiliate Internet
Center. And Saigon Postel (SPT) is the fourth ISP.
Trinh Dinh Khuong, manager of Saigon Postel, said the company only
has 100 subscribers who have free access to the Internet in the
trial period of six months.
"We face a problem in pricing," he said. Khuong said the 400 dong
(US$0.03) for one minute of Internet access is too expensive for
local users.
Lien of VDC said that all major equipment for VNN is supplied by
Cisco Systems Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. In the southern part
of the country, the equipment is operating at near full capacity,
he noted.
Dinh Viet Hao , deputy director of VDC and chief of VDC Center II,
said that VNN's network in Ho Chi Minh City was designed to serve a
maximum of 2,000 users, but that its number of customers in the
region has reached 3,100.
Hao said about 530 new VNN customers are added to the Internet each
month.
VDC is seeking a suitable foreign partner to upgrade VNN's equipment
to meet the increasing demands, Hao said. IBM Corp. is one of the
potential candidates, he noted.
Compaq Computer Corp. and 3Com Corp. are the main equipment
suppliers to FPT.
Table 1 Customer of Vietnam Internet
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Category
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Share
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Private (Vietnamese private businesses and individuals)
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44%
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Foreign (Foreign businesses and individuals)
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37%
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State (State-owned businesses)
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14%
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Others (Governmental agencies, NGOs, diplomatic mission,
etc. )
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5%
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ISP in Vietnam
Vietnam's four Internet service providers are Vietnam Data
Communications Corp. (VDC), FPT Corp., the National Information
Technology Institute (NIT) and Saigon Postel (SPT).
FPT Corp.
37 Lang Ha, Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam
URL: http://www.fpt.vn
NIT (National Information Technology Institute )
1 Mac Dinh Chi Dist1, HCMC, Vietnam
URL : N.A.
SPT (Saigon Postel Corp.)
4 Nguyen Hau, HCMC, Vietnam
email: [email protected]
URL: http://www.saigonnet.vn
VDC (Vietnam Data Communications Corp.)
258 Ba Trieu, Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail : [email protected]
URL: http://www.vnn.vn
(David Tran, Asia BizTech Correspondent)
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