|
Vietnamobile raises bar in telecoms sector
One year after entering the telecoms sector, Vietnamobile is the fourth largest network operator in Viet Nam. With its recent success, the sector is becoming increasingly competitive. Vietnamobile's chief executive officer, Elizabete Fong, spoke with Viet Nam News about the Vietnamese telecoms market.
How vibrant is the Vietnamese telecoms sector?
Viet Nam's telecoms market has entered a new stage of development in which all operators have to compete aggressively to protect their customer base and increase market share. Call rates are already at a very low level. Looking at 2010 and beyond, I believe telecoms firms will compete more and more in terms of network quality and innovation. Mobile service users are becoming significantly more sophisticated and quality conscious and will choose those operators that best meet their needs.
This will create opportunities for new operators such as Vietnamobile, which will strive to secure a foothold in the market. As a young, dynamic network, we have positioned ourselves to cater to new mobile service consumption trends, bringing consumers differentiated services that they have never experienced before. I firmly believe Vietnamobile will continue to grow strongly and become everyone's favourite network.
What are the advantages in terms of business performance of switching from CDMA to GSM?
Firstly, I must say that the support given to us by the Vietnamese Government, the Ministry of Post and Communications and our partners in switching to GSM was very timely and beneficial. Last year our whole team worked very hard switching to GSM and I think it was a fruitful year. We are glad to be part of the fast-growth mobile technology sector. By combining international telecommunications expertise, the best practices of the Hutchison Telecom group with the local experience of Hanoi Telecom; we are well placed to offer a high quality customer-centric mobile service in Viet Nam.
We are glad to say that our network population coverage is now 85 per cent and we are aiming to achieve 90 per cent with 6000 BTS by the end of this year in all 63 provinces and cities. We are also doubling the capacity of our call centres to meet the increasing demand of our subscribers.
Our distribution channel is also a very important factor that we focused on over the last year. Thanks to the support of our distributors nationwide, Vietnamobile products are now available at more than 50,000 retail outlets and we are looking to expand that number to 60,000 by the end of this year.
In terms of pricing, since we are new, we have adopted a very competitive pricing policy in order to give customers an incentive to join us. We pride ourselves in not simply discounting on price but also in offering added value such as our Maxi Talk on-net and Max Circle off-net subscription-based packages. Our Maxi Talk package is loved by young people and it was one of the three favourite packages of the ICT press club in 2009.
For the convenience of the growing number of Vietnamese people who travel overseas, we launched SMS roaming for our prepaid subscribers just one year after launching. Our postpaid subscribers can now enjoy roaming connectivity to the most popular destinations for both voice and data services.
All these factors help us enhance our brand awareness in the market and we are very happy that after one year's operation, our brand has achieved 80 per cent market awareness, and 98 per cent in Ha Noi, according to an independent market survey recently.
What difficulties are you facing with so many rival companies jostling to outdo one another with major promotions?
I think prices in Viet Nam are already very competitive in comparison with many other telecoms markets. We will continually develop in a way that keeps our prices both fair and reasonable. If you look at our packages and promotions, you will see that rather than just simply reduce costs, we offer better value to our customers. We certainly do not want to join in any price war. Rather, we plan to adopt an innovative way of pricing that can offer added value.
As you know, the Ministry of Post and Communications is compiling a law on number portability. What are your thoughts on this?
I am very glad that the Government is looking at this. In one of the markets I worked in before, I was personally involved when the regulatory body introduced Mobile Number Portability to create fairer and more open competition so as to provide an optimal environment for new operators. It also helps manage Government resources in terms of mobile numbers and infrastructure efficiency. We think number portability is a very good thing, and shows the world that Viet Nam's telecommunications sector is truly fair and open.
What is your main goals?
Over the last year, we have made small achievements, The biggest bonus for us, though we are a late comer, was to gain the trust of millions of customers in Viet Nam.
That has given us the confidence to go forward in this challenging environment, Our goal in the coming time is simply to continue to grow, maintain a strong quality presence here, listen to customers and offer more innovative best-value services.
vietnamnews
|
