VietNamNet Bridge – Experts believe that Vietnam should begin
applying the MNP (mobile number portability) when the penetration rate of
Vietnamese users reaches 70 percent and the service charges can be controlled
well.
Big mobile network operators still keep hesitant
The Ministry of Information and
Communication (MIC) is now consulting with people and businesses on the MNP
plan. The ministry’s Telecommunication Agency has suggested that the plan
should be kicked off from October 2014.
It believes that there are many
favorable conditions for Vietnam to carry out MNP. Vietnam now has six mobile
telecom service providers with the high subscriber rate 1.5 subscribers per
capita. Meanwhile, the mobile service fees are relatively low and the number of
unused activated simcards is relatively high which needs to be controlled.
The telecom agency has urged to
carry MNP because it believes MNP would bring big benefits. Customers would
have the right to choose service providers, which would create a more
competitive environment among service providers. Meanwhile, the state
management agencies would have more instruments to supervise and develop
e-commerce.
However, Pham Hong Hai, Head of
the Telecommunication Agency, said after the agency consulted with mobile
network operators, it has found out that the operators still do not want to
carry out MNP soon, because they fear that “subscribers would disappear.”
It happened in some other
countries in the first phase of MNP implementation, that a high number of
subscribers left big mobile networks to become the clients of small networks,
and then subscribers left small networks, heading for big networks.
This explains why big network
operators keep hesitant with MNP because it proves to be too risky to them.
They may not be worried about the leave of subscribers for smaller networks,
but they have every reason to fear that big networks would scramble for each
other’s clients.
When?
Nguyen Manh Hung, when asked when
MNP should be conducted in Vietnam, Nguyen Manh Hung, Deputy General Director
of Viettel, said that MNP is very necessary, because it brings benefits to
clients and push up the quality competition. However, he said Vietnam should
take cautious steps when implementing the plan or it would bring the reverse
effects.
Hung said in principle, the
policy should be applied when the penetration rate of mobile phone users (not
mobile subscribers) reaches the 70 percent threshold, and when the service fees
can be controlled well with no subsidization for terminal devices.
Hung said if implementing MNP too
early, this may lead to the fact that mobile network operators would set up a
series of short term policies in order to prevent their subscribers from
leaving for other networks. If so, they would not gather their strength on long
term development strategies.
Besides, Hung said, it is
necessary to analyze the Vietnamese consumption culture in order to choose the
right time to implement MNP.
Meanwhile, small networks expect
the MNP to be carried out soon. Elizabeth Fong, Managing Director of
Vietnamobile, said MNP would bring more opportunities to small networks like
Vietnamobile which has made heavy investment to develop the network.
She said a lot of subscribers
want to try with other service providers, but they cannot, because they have to
keep the same number contacts. With MNP, the subscribers would have the chances
to use better services with more competitive prices.
Buu Dien has quoted Tom Kershaw,
Deputy President of Telcordia as saying that Vietnam has been going on the
right track with high mobile subscriber density and increasingly high number of
smart phone users.
However, he has advised Vietnam
to reduce the density to 90-95 percent per 100 people from the current 150
percent.
Buu Dien
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