VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Information and Communications has asked mobile network operators to connect their customer databases to the ministry's data centre.



Viettel staff in the capital serve customers.


The move will help the ministry supervise the number of mobile subscribers, phone tariffs and promotions.

Ministry head of Telecom Department Phan Hong Hai said supervision would enable the ministry to have prompt policies toward the mobile market.

Mobile network operators were said to be falsifying their subscriber number reports in order to attract more subscriptions.

In 2005-06 for instance, both MobiFone and Vinaphone claimed they had the biggest number of subscribers.

However, after the ministry checked, the biggest operator in terms of subscribers was military-run Viettel.

The 3G (third generation) segment experienced the same problem. In 2010, mobile network operators reported they had a combined 3G subscription of 14 million while the ministry said the number stood at just 7 million.

The ministry said that at the first stage, it would require the country's three biggest operators – Viettel, Vinaphone and MobiFone – to connect to the system and would gradually ask smaller operators to do so.

New mobile subscriptions in Viet Nam have skyrocketed in recent years, reaching 19 million in 2006, 25 million in 2007, 74 million in 2008, 98 million in 2009 and 123.5 million by the end of September 2012.

VietNamNet/VNS