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Mobile providers fret as competition heats up
With Russian mobile network Beeline kicking off operations, existing players have launched a slew of promotions in an effort to hold on to their market shares.
Vinaphone, run by the Viet Nam Post and Telecom Group (VNPT), offers new pre-paid customers, who have to pay VND65,000 to activate their account, a credit of VND105,000 in their account. The promotion runs until August 31.
Military-run Viettel is offering double the value of pre-paid cards for new customers and waiving subscription for certain "post-paid" packages.
MobiFone, also run by the VNPT, offered a bonus of 50-120 per cent on its pre-paid cards early this month.
Vietnamobile, a joint venture set up in April by the Ha Noi Telecom and Hongkong-based Hutchison, has been offering pre-paid users double the value of their cards starting on August 1.
The appearance of newcomer Beeline, which charges VND1,199 per minute for off-net calls – or calls to other networks – and offers 20 minutes of free on-net calling after the first minute, has set the cat among the pigeons.
Though it only covers Ha Noi, HCM City and Da Nang so far, many clients have shifted to it from other operators, a Vinaphone spokesperson says, placing the number at around two-thirds of its 1 million subscribers in those areas.
Beeline, which has a prefix of 0199, is run by Gtel Mobile, a joint venture between Viet Nam’s Gtel Corporation and Russia-based VimpelCom, a leading provider of telecom services in eastern Europe and central Asia.
Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy general director of Viettel, says network coverage and low tariffs are no longer key factors in attracting subscribers; but quality of network and customer service are.
Several existing operators have been guilty of poor quality, he admitted.
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