VietNamNet Bridge - Businesses from all economic sectors now can join the television transmission and broadcasting market, though some believe the business environment remains unfair.

The Prime Minister has decided to amend the radio and television transmission & broadcasting programming by 2020. The initial decision was released in 2009. 

Under the new program, from March 15, 2015, businesses of all economic sectors can join the market. Prior to that, only state-owned enterprises and joint stock companies in which the state holds controlling stakes could do this.

The aim of the new program is to create favorable conditions to form transmission and broadcasting companies with digital technology infrastructure large and modern enough to provide services to all televisions throughout the country.

This also aims to separate broadcasting and content services.

Once Vietnam fulfills the TV digitalization program by 2020 as planned, television companies will be in charge of content production and covered by the Press Law, while transmission companies will provide transmission and broadcasting service in accordance with the Telecommunications Law.

The director of a media company in HCM City warned that businesses would hesitate to invest in infrastructure for transmission and broadcasting, because under current regulations, national and local television companies can also set up transmission companies of their own.

Analysts believe that with their great technological advantages, telecom groups are willing to join the transmission & broadcasting market. This is within the reach of Viettel, FPT and VNPT, the major players in the telecom sector.

However, they will have to struggle to exist because of an unfair business environment.

The director of a mobile network operator admitted that pay-TV would not be a great advantage for telcos. 

It is foreseeable that telcos, which can only provide transmission service and cannot produce TV programs, would be less competitive than television companies, which can offer both kinds of services through their subsidiaries.

Hoang Vinh Bao, a senior official of the Ministry of Information and Communication, confirmed that there are signs of unhealthy competition in the domestic pay-TV market. 

In most cases, television companies give priority to the transmission companies which are their subsidiaries, and they do not want to sell content to independent transmission service providers.

Le Quang Phuc, former director of the Dong Thap provincial Radio and Television, believes that the State has to set up a fair business environment if it wants to persuade foreign invested and private enterprises to spend money to develop infrastructure for transmission. 

Bao also thinks that in the future, television companies must be prevented from conducting transmission and broadcasting, and be in charge of content programs only.

If television compnies are allowed to conduct transmission, an analyst says the state should allow transmission companies to produce content programs as well.

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