Lucrative support for Vietcong army-owned businesses in Nambodia by Hun Xen's regime?

VN eager to discuss defence co-operation

29/05/2012
VNN

Viet Nam would actively engage in discussions at the sixth ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus (ADMM6) to help make it a success.

The fruitful outcomes of this meeting would further contribute to promoting peace, stability, co-operation and development in the region.

The remarks were made by Minister of Defence Phung Quang Thanh during a bilateral meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Tea Bank in Phnom Penh yesterday, May 28.

On this occasion, Thanh expressed his thanks for the support of the Cambodian Government, Defence Ministry and Cambodian Royal Army towards Vietnamese military-owned enterprises operating in Cambodia.

[Viet Army's] Viettel dominates fibre coverage in Cambodia

Monday 22 August 2011
Telecomparer

Vietnamese telecommunications firm Viettel has rolled out over 16,000km of fibre optic cables for its mobile operator in Cambodia, Metfone. Viettel now has the largest internet coverage in Cambodia, Viet Nam Business News writes. According to a report from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of Cambodia (MPTC), cable network coverage in the country has increased 17 fold in five years and Metfone has achieved 80 percent network coverage.

China vs Vietcong's Telco (updated)

Ad for Viettel

China vs Vietnam

Thursday, 11 November 2010
David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

CHINA’S commercial influence has grown in Cambodia with the signing of a refinancing deal for mobile provider Mobitel, according to international commentators, who said the People’s Republic may leverage its business interests for political advantage.

Last Thursday, Cambodian conglomerate The Royal Group signed a US$591 million deal to refinance its subsidiary Mobitel with the Bank of China. It will enable The Royal Group to pay off a $421 million debt as well as fund future capital expenditures.

One week on, political and economic commentators said there were likely political considerations with the agreement – a viewpoint government and company officials rejected yesterday.

“At the moment anything China does is viewed as having ulterior motives,” Carlyle Thayer, a politics professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy, a school managed by the University of New South Wales, told The Post.

“China has always manipulated loans to suit larger political purposes,” he said, highlighting the potential for a power play between Vietnam and China in the telecommunications sector.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications statistics show Mobitel is the largest mobile provider by subscriber numbers, while Metfone – a subsidiary of the Vietnamese military – has grown to become the second biggest.

China and Vietnam had been engaged in “something of a tussle” over influence in Cambodia since the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, Thayer said.

“China may leverage its commercial interests to gain political influence … and also to use that influence to block [Metfone’s] drive to increase market share,” he said.

Nick Owen, Shanghai-based editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and analysis resource, said the Mobitel deal “underscores China’s growing influence in Cambodia”.

“Long-term, low-interest loans make little sense commercially in what is still a relatively risky market,” he said.

The loan deal should not be viewed in isolation from a $500 million agreement The Royal Group signed with China’s Huawei Technologies, he said.

Yesterday, officials within Cambodia dismissed such suggestions.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said he “totally rejected” claims that there was political motivation behind the deal.

The Royal Group said it was purely a business decision to refinance with Bank of China. Chairman Kith Meng said yesterday it was “a commercial deal”.

Chief Financial Officer Mark Hanna wrote: “The deal that we have signed is a commercial transaction that has no political angle.” He said it improved the Kingdom’s image with international bankers.

“This refinancing raises the profile of Cambodia on the international debt market,” he said.

Chinese Embassy spokesman Qian Hai said the agreement was entirely business related.

Viettel conquers Cambodia's mobile market ... just like Hanoi controls Hun Xen's regime?

Viettel conquers Cambodia's mobile market

February, 27 2010
VietNam News (Hanoi)

HA NOI — Viettel Cambodia, a subsidiary of Viet Nam's military-run telecom service provider, now owns 42 per cent of the base transceiver stations (BTS) and 88 per cent the optic-fibre cable in Cambodia.

In terms of subscribers, it now holds the second place just six months after becoming operational.

The telecom provider aims to obtain a turnover of US$250 million this year. It also plans to have 3,000 BTS for 2G services and 1,500 BTS for its 3G network. It is also looking to increase its optic-fibre cable network to between 15,000 and 16,000 kilometres.

Viettel said it was looking to have a 46 per cent share of the fixed-line subscriber market, and 90 per cent of the mobile phone and ADSL markets.

The group is now the leading Vietnamese investor in foreign countries.

This year, it plans to invest in Bangladesh, while expanding its market share in other foreign countries.

The group said its targeted turnover this year was VND75 trillion to VND78 trillion ($4-4.2 billion), an increase of 60 per cent to 70 per cent against last year.

In the domestic market, its BTS and optic-fibre cable infrastructure has increased by 50 per cent. It has 26,000 stations for 2G and 3G services and 90,000 kilometres of cable.

The telecom provider plans to have 7,000 operational BTS for 3G services in Viet Nam.

Viettel deputy general director Nguyen Manh Hung said the group would be responsible for designing its products, while they would be assembled in mainland China or Taiwan.

Hung said his company decided to invest in producing made-in-Viet Nam mobile phone products to meet the demand of Viet Nam's 40 million subscribers. It is anticipated that there will be 50 million subscribers by the end of this year.

VN sets its sights on dominating Cambodia’s telecom market

25/02/2010

VietNamNet Bridge – The big telecommunication and information technology groups in Vietnam like Viettel, FPT and VTC are looking to Cambodia with expansion in mind.

Viettel is now the largest Vietnamese telecom investor in Cambodia. It launched the Metfone mobile network one year ago. After six months, the Viettel Cambodia topped the network, accounting for 42 percent of the total number of base transceiver stations (BTS), 88 percent of the total optical cable and second for subscribers in Cambodia.

This year Viettel Cambodia aims to earn $250 million in revenue and have 3,000 second-generation (2G) BTS, 1,500 3-G BTS and 15,000-16,000km of optical cable.

FPT Telecom has been involved in telecom business in Cambodia for six months, mainly by selling frequency bands at Vietnam-Cambodia border gates. FPT’s general director Nguyen Thanh Nam said that it is the time for FPT Telecom to enter Cambodia to directly serve users. The company plans to cooperate with Mekong Net, one of the two biggest Cambodian IT firms.

Most recently, VTC group introduced the VTC Online Cambodia Company and its first products and services for the Cambodian market.

Nguyen Viet Hung, managing director of VTC Online Cambodia, said that the firm’s products are totally “Khmermizing” and would be put online in late February. The first products are entertainment, education programmes and cultural information.

Competition

Entering the Cambodian market, the most “dangerous” rivals for FPT are perhaps not local firms but Viettel.

“Viettel is expanding investment in Cambodia but as in Vietnam, Viettel’s top priority are mobile services so if FPT Telecom is agile, we can rule the Internet market, Nguyen Thanh Nam said.

However, FPT Telecom’s plans may not go smoothly because Viettel recently stated to strive for a holding of 46 percent of the fixed phone market, 90 percent of the mobile market and 90 percent of the broadband Internet market in Cambodia by 2011.

On June 1 2009, Viettel Cambodia became the first provider of multi-telecom services in Cambodia, including channel leasing, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), broadband Internet, mobile and fixed phone services.

Content services are also promising for Vietnamese investors. Thanh Nam disclosed that FPT Telecom considers Internet facilities as a way of developing content services in the future.

However, FPT Telecom is not a big name in content services in Cambodia just as it is not a big supplier of content services in Vietnam.

The opportunity for VTC in the content service market in Cambodia seems to be bigger because VTC’s subsidiary, VTC Intercom has always obtained 300 percent of growth rate annually for content services in Vietnam since its establishment in late 2006. This year VTC plans to open four branches in Siem Reap, Battambang, Preah Sihanouk and Kampong Cham. It will offer electronic services related to trade, banking, sports, music and fashion.

The rivals of VTC in Cambodia in the content service market are local firms. Mike Gaertner, managing director of the CIDC, the distributor of the most popular online game in Cambodia – Justice X Wars II, spoke to the Phnom Penh Post Office: “They (VTC) will divide the market in two parts. CIDC will react and VTC will react too. It is an interesting moment for the online game industry in Cambodia”.

CIDS currently has more than 120,000 subscribers.

Potential market

Apart from the competitive mobile market with nine networks, including big firms from Malaysia, Thailand, Sweden, etc., other markets in Cambodia are very promising.

According to Nguyen Thanh Nam, the broadband Internet market is still in its infancy but some good signs have arisen. In the last six months, charge for 1Mb transmission have dropped from $1,000 to $300 and will continue falling. “The fall in charges will push demand up,” Nam said.

An official from Viettel said that only 0.12 percent of Cambodian people are Internet subscribers. Viettel aims to raise the rate to 3 percent over the next three years.

As to the content service market, the Phnom Penh Post Newspaper commented: “The local market is still broad for development in comparison with neighboring countries”.

The CIDC’s Gaertner was very optimistic, saying that his firm is not afraid to compete with new rivals from Vietnam because: “Vietnam has 18 million Internet users, 10 million of them are gamers. I hope the same thing will take place in Cambodia”.

Viettel becomes [Yuon] military’s first economic group

A ceremony held in Hanoi January 12 marked the upgrade of the military’s telecom company, Viettel, into the Viettel Group (Photo: dddn)

Wednesday,Jan 13,2010
Saigon Giai Phong (Vietnamese Communist Party)

The Ministry of National Defense’s upgraded its telecom company Viettel into an economic group January 12.

A board of directors will run the group under a general director who will be nominated by the Minister of National Defense.

The military set up Viettel in 1999. Its turnover has increased from VND40 billion (US$2 million) then to VND60 trillion last year.

Viettel holds a 37.5 percent share of the country’s telecom market, including a 42.5 percent share of its mobile phone market.

Viettel has the largest network with 24,000 base transmission stations and 100,000 kilometers of cable covering every district in the country and 75 percent of its communes.

It became the first telecom company to invest abroad, setting up telecom networks in Laos and Cambodia.

Cambodia is the Vietnamese Militrary Viettel's war trophy?

Viettel prospers in Cambodia market

26-09-2009
VNS (Hanoi)

HA NOI — Viet Nam’s Military Telecom Corporation (Viettel) is now the largest telecommunications service provider in Cambodia, after launching its Metfone mobile service network in the Kingdom six months ago.

Metfone currently accounts for 60 per cent of all ADSL services and 50 per cent of the fixed phone market. It has 2 million mobile subscribers, ranking second among nine mobile service providers in Cambodia.

To facilitate the Cambodian people’s access to fundamental telecommunications services, Metfone has reduced its mobile service charges from 11 cents per minute to 9 cents per minute, and expects to adjust it down even further in the near future.

Additionally, Metfone is the sole provider of all telecommunications services in Cambodia, with its product distribution network covering even the most remote and isolated communes. It is also the sole provider of wireless fixed phone services, with nearly 20,000 subscribers in the country.

Along with business development in Cambodia, Viettel has invested US$5 million to carry out a three-year programme to introduce the internet to schools, subsidised 50 per cent of wireless fixed and mobile phone charges for poor people and sponsored an online television system, connecting the Government to localities across the country.

Metfone is expected to earn revenue of $50 million this year and provide 3G services in Cambodia early next year.

Metfone is also expected to have 2.6 million mobile subscribers and 3,000 transceiver stations covering all 24 provinces and cities of Cambodia, and the ability to provide affordable, high-quality services for customers by 2010.

Vietcong Internet for Cambodian children?

Viettel provides internet for Cambodian schools

25/04/2009
VietNamNet/VNA (Hanoi)

VietNamNet Bridge – The army-run mobile phone operator Viettel will provide internet services to 300 schools in Cambodia this year, according to the corporation’s General Director Hoang Anh Xuan.

Xuan made the statement while he was being received by the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, in Phnom Penh on April 22, adding that his company wants to offer Cambodia access to modern technologies to help solve its humanitarian and social issues.

Viettel has already donated 500,000 USD to provide poor Cambodian children with heart and mouth surgery.

The company also plans to introduce a landline phone service for households in Cambodia, he added.

For his part, the Cambodian PM promised that his government would create the right environment to enable Viettel to develop its business there in the future.

Free Vietnamese army eavesdropping service to go with that Metfone mobile phone?

Viettel inaugurates mobile phone network in Cambodia

February 20, 2009

Nhan Dan Online - Viettel opened its Metfone mobile phone network in Cambodia on February 19.

The Viettel ot the permit to carry out the project in June 2007. It has thus far successfully installed over 1,000 broadcasting posts and 5,000 kilometres of optical cable line, covering all of the Cambodian provinces and cities.

This year, the company planned to increase the number of broadcasting posts and the length of the optical cable line to 3,000 posts and 10.000 kilometres respectively in order to meet the Cambodian customers’ demand.

The Metfone mobile phone network has now attracted 500,000 subscribers.

Metfone is currently offering the lowest charges against other mobile phone networks in Cambodia.

The same day, Viettel announced its US$5 million fund to provide free internet service for 1,000 schools in Cambodia.

Cambodian mobile phone operators to expand services

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Despite the economic downturn and concerns over corporate investment, Cambodian mobile phone operators say their expansion plans are on schedule for 2009 as the industry continues to grow, national media reported Tuesday.

"Our expansion plans are on track," Adam Cabot, CEO of Star-Cell, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

The company has announced it was going to expand services to all of Cambodia's provinces for its 100,000 subscribers.

"Yes, (the crisis) will have an effect, but it is hard to say how much. We are still maintaining our position and doing well," he said.

Cambodia's mobile market has grown rapidly in the past five years, and companies are scrambling to gain a foothold as phones and the internet gain popularity.

Domestic mobile-phone usage surged 49 percent in 2007 but the national penetration rate remains a low 17 percent.

In contrast, neighboring Vietnam saw 75 percent growth with a 33 percent penetration rate in the same year, according to Budde Comm, an independent telecoms analyst.

Cambodia's low mobile penetration rate is a draw for many companies such as Vietnam-based mobile operator Viettel, which is launching a major drive to tap Cambodia's rural market and bring schools online.

Hun Sen regime reinforces links with its Viet master ... to facilitate VN's army Viettel penetration in Cambodia

Vietnam, Cambodia reinforce communication links

Saturday, October 11, 2008
Thanh Nien News (Hanoi)

The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications has reached a number of wide-ranging cooperation agreements with the Cambodian ministries of Information, and Post and Telecommunication.

The agreements were made in talks between Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop, Cambodian Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith and Minister of Post and Telecommunication So Khun during Hop’s visit to Cambodia from October 8 -11.

The ministers agreed to increase the exchange of visits by managers, pressmen, and post and telecommunication officials to share management skills, formulating management regulations for the press and post and telecommunications sectors, improving professional skills, and developing infrastructural facilities for radio, television, and telecom stations.

They pledged to create favourable conditions and an attractive environment for post and telecommunication businesses to invest in and conduct business in each other’s countries.

The Cambodian officials also requested the assistance of the Vietnamese side in human resources training and enhancing the management of press, internet and telecom services.

During the visit, Minister Hop and his entourage were received by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who referred to the visit as a major contribution to consolidating the traditional friendship between the two countries and further bolstering cooperation and assistance between the ministries.

Ministers Hop and So Khun co-chaired the Vietnamese-Cambodian Post and Telecom Businesses’ Forum in Phnom Penh Friday. Hop also conducted a tour of a branch of the Vietnamese military-run Viettel company and visited several post and telecom units in the host country.