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Just 5% of mobile subscribers in Vietnam use 3G service, while most stitch to 2G technology.
These figures were given at a press conference held in Hanoi by the Vietnam Post Newspaper on January 19. The conference was held to announce the results of a survey on quality of service of mobile operators in Vietnam. The results were based on responses of 3,200 people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
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Four out of seven mobile operators in Vietnam, including Vinaphone, Mobifone, Viettel and EVN Telecom, have launched 3G service. Vinaphone was the pioneer, beginning their service in October 2009.
Although these firms have poured huge investments into improving 3G service in order to establish their brands in the Vietnamese market, customers still complain about the quality of 3G service.
Some carriers even plan to reduce their rates for 3G coverage to lower than those of 2G.
According to the survey, Mobifone takes lead in terms of 3G transmission quality, information security and safety. Viettel leads in terms of reasonable rates, but Vinaphone ranks first when it comes to the lack of charge calculation errors.
MobileFone is the leader not only in 3G service quality, but in general service quality. Among the seven providers in Vietnam, it was followed in these areas only by Viettel and Vinaphone, according to the survey.
According to the General Statistics Office, by the end of 2010, even though the population of the country is around 86 million, there are a total of 170.1 million phone subscriptions, 154 million of those are mobile phones. There are seven mobile operators in the Vietnamese market: Mobifone, Viettel, Vinaphone, Vietnammobile, SFone, Beeline and EVN Teelcom. These have accounted for over 80% of the country’s total telecom revenue, of around USD6 billion in 2010.
