VietNamNet Bridge – The revenues Internet Service Providers (ISP) gained in 2012 was less than VND15 trillion, a surprisingly low and “thought-provoking figure” as described by Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Mo, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Information and Communication’s Telecom Department.

Mo analyzed the economic effects brought on by the Internet on Vietnam’s Internet Day, an important annual event of the ICT industry. The disappointing figures were shown on December 4.

According to Mo, there are 55 valid licenses for providing fixed Internet services. The figure only counts the enterprises which provide the Internet access and connection, while it does not include the enterprises which provide Internet-based telecom app services.

To date, 47 enterprises have confirmed they have been providing services to the public, but only 16 of them have submitted regular reports to the Telecom Department about their operation.

The others have not submitted reports maybe because of their small market shares, low turnover and low numbers of subscribers, or because they have stopped operation.

In terms of the mobile Internet access, the Ministry of Information and Communications has granted four licenses to four telcos namely Viettel, VinaPhone, MobiFone and Vietnam Mobile.

The fixed broadband market share division now goes in accordance with four types of popular access technologies namely xDHL, FTTH, leased line, cable TV. The market has been held by the five biggest enterprises, including the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT), FPT, Viettel, CMC, SCTV.

The new comers in the market, such as CMC and SCTV, have been making great efforts to develop the new market which requires high techniques like cable TV or leased line.

Also according to Mo, the mobile market has been dominated by the three big guys--Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone, which hold 98 percent of the market share.

By October 2013, there had been over 5 million subscribers on the fixed broadband market, of which 87.5 percent had been using ADSL.

There are some 19 million subscribers on the mobile broadband market.

A report of ITU (International Telecommunication Union) released in late 2012, showed that Vietnam lags behind South Korea and Singapore in terms of mobile broadband access, though it is better than Malaysia and China.

With the above said numbers of clients, ISPs’ total turnover in 2012 reached VND10 trillion (there are no statistics about Internet access only) and the turnover from 3G service was VND5 trillion.

“If considering Internet access as a market, the figure of VND15 trillion in total turnover is worth thinking,” Mo said.

“It is necessary to reconsider if enterprises really see this as a market to gather their strength to develop and make profits from in terms of infrastructure investment and business organization, and if it is worth to develop it?” Mo said.

“The question awaits the answer from MIC and all other enterprises,” Mo said.

The participants at the event also heard that Vietnam ranks the 15th in terms of Internet growth with 31 million Internet users. Vietnamese spend more and more time using the Internet. 62 percent of them spend more than 3 hours a day to surf on the Internet.

A report by Vietnam Internet Association (VIA) showed that Facebook is the most popular social network in Vietnam, which has 19.6 million users so far, or 21.42 percent of the population.

Le Van