PM Dung Okays VNPT Separation Plan

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung October 24 issued a decision to allow state-owned largest post and telecom firm VNPT Group to separate telecom from post and to refuse establishment of more than three telecommunication corporation affiliates in the north, central and southern regions.

 

The move comes amid a backdrop of telecommunications convergence market trends and fierce competition from other operators, Minister of Information and Communications (MoIC) Le Doan Hop said.

 

The separation of telecom and postal businesses would pave the way for the group’s Vietnam Post Corporation to start operating independently from early next year, Hop noted.

 

VNPT is requested to complete the split by the end of 2007, and it and concerned agencies will be responsible to ensure operations for the provincial telecom offices.

 

VNPT will directly manage 61 provincial and municipal telecom offices after the partition.

 

VNPT is running more than 14,000 post offices nationwide.

By the end of 2006, VNPT had total equity valued at VND56.5 trillion (US$3.53 billion), 24 times higher than that in 1995 when VNPT started telecom operation. Of which, the state’s stake was worth VND47.6 trillion (US$2.97 billion), 23 folds higher than that of 1995.

VNPT targets to attain VND42.1 trillion (US$2.63 billion) revenues this year, up 9.84 per cent on year and of which VND6.8 trillion (US$425 million) will go to the state coffer. The group hopes to sign up 6.45 million new telephone subscribers and 500,000 internet users within this year. (Labor)