Traditional telecommunication services have fallen into disfavor. Voice calls and messages once brought 90 percent of total revenue to telecom carriers, but the figure has dropped to 30 percent.

In Vietnam, the downward trend could be seen clearly during the 2024 Tet holiday. The number of voice calls and messages increases during those days but this did not occur this year.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), from the beginning of Tet holiday to the end of February 13, or the fourth day of the new lunar year, the voice traffic was 41.7 million Erl, down by 13.2 percent compared with the same period last year.

Voice output during that time also decreased by 50.46 percent to 1.8 million minutes. The SMS traffic was 541 million messages, down 18.09 percent compared with 2023 Tet.

Meanwhile, the ministry reported that the total data traffic during the 2024 Tet holiday reached 521 Tb, up 12.18 percent.

The figures show that Vietnamese are shifting to data services, while traditional telecommunication services are on the decline.

A senior executive of Viettel, the No 1 mobile service provider, told VietNamNet that the total voice traffic of the network during Tet was 10 percent higher than that on ordinary days and 15 percent lower than 2023 Tet.

As for data services, Viettel’s data traffic increased by 10 percent compared with ordinary days and 18 percent compared with 2023 Tet.

“The traffic of both voice and data services during 2024 Tet was higher than ordinary days, but the voice traffic decreased and data traffic increased compared with 2023 Tet,” he explained.

Meanwhile, MobiFone said the demand for voice services always decreases during holidays. The decreases were 10 percent in the north and 20 percent in the south.

Meanwhile, central provinces, where workers from Industrial Zones in the north and south flock to during holidays, saw demand for data increase by 10 percent.

A senior executive of Vietnamobile confirmed that previously, people mostly sent SMS messages to give New Year’s greetings. But in recent years, people have shifted to apps, social network platforms, or OTT apps, such as Zalo, Viber and WhatsApp.

He said data services can bring diversity in form and content, such as emoji, stickers and greeting cards.

Le My