VietNamNet Bridge - Many subscribers have left VNPT (the Vietnam Post & Telecommunication Group) recently, helping VNPT’s rivals such as Viettel and FPT Telecom obtain larger market share.

The market share being held by three largest mobile network operators

Being a state-owned enterprise (SOE) and the first internet service provider, VNPT has dominated the broadband internet service market. 

However, with the percentage of subscribers decreasing in recent years, VNPT has become a ‘gold mine’ for its rivals to exploit.

A tripodal position has existed in the internet market for many years with three big players VNPT, Viettel and FPT Telecom.

Since 2003, when the market witnessed the presence of all three big players, the total market share held has always been over 80 percent, and since 2008, the figure has been over 90 percent. Meanwhile, all the other service providers including HTC, EVN and SCTV had 10 percent of the market share.

Many subscribers have left VNPT (the Vietnam Post & Telecommunication Group) recently, helping VNPT’s rivals such as Viettel and FPT Telecom obtain larger market share.

Of the three big players, VNPT is the most outstanding. Pioneering in the field by becoming the only service provider to state-owned corporations in 1990s, VNPT quickly gained large market share of 40 percent in the first years of providing service.

In 2008 and the following years, the market share the big player held even reached 75 percent, which was even larger than the total market share held by its two rivals VIettel and FPT Telecom.

However, the leading position has been shaken because of the high percentage of subscribers leaving VNPT.

The decrease began in 2008, 2009 and 2010, though VNPT still could retain 74 percent of the market share in the years. Meanwhile, the figure dropped sharply to 67.7 percent in 2011 and to 61.26 percent in 2012. 

The White Book about Vietnam’s ICT panorama released by the Ministry of Information and Communication showed that VNPT only held 51.3 percent of the market share in 2013.

As such, since 2010, the market share held by VNPT has been decreasing rapidly with the CAGR (compound annual growth rate) at (-9%) – (-16%), leading to the big player’s market share dropping to below 50 percent.

Analysts have warned that if the decrease continues, VNPT may be outstripped by Viettel, which has been growing rapidly in recent years with the 39 percent market share in 2013.

High service fee explains why many subscribers leave VNPT. Some service packages provided by VNPT have the speed (MB) similar to the packages provided by Viettel and FPT Telecom but have higher fees. Some other packages have lower speed but a higher fee.

These include F-Eco+ and Fm+ in HCMC, F2F 12MB in Hanoi at VND330,000 a month, or Fiber Home 2 in Da Nang at VND599,000 a month with 15MB only.


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