VietNamNet Bridge – According to the White Paper on Vietnam’s Information Technology and Communications in 2014, which has just been released by the Ministry of Information and Communications, by the end of 2013, the number of mobile subscribers (2G, 3G) in Vietnam had fallen by nearly 8 million compared with the previous year, to 123 million subscribers.

However, the number of 3G mobile subscribers grew by 4 million, to 19.7 million, equivalent to a growth rate of 26%.

Due to negative growth of subscribers, revenue from mobile services in 2013 decreased by $1.4 billion (21%) to $5.1 billion. The total telecommunications service revenue also fell by nearly $1.1 billion to about $7.4 billion.

In terms of market share of the mobile services (2G and 3G), Viettel ranked first with 43.5%, followed by MobiFone and VinaPhone. Compared to 2012, MobiFone’s market share increased from 21.4% to 32% while that of VinaPhone fell from 20% to 17.5 percent.

The two remaining networks - Vietnammobile and Gmobile – shared over 7% of the market.

The number of subscribers on the fixed phone market kept falling in the past five years, to only 6.7 million subscribers in late 2013. However, revenues from fixed telephone services still grew by 15% to reach $452 million. This is the 3rd consecutive year with growth in revenue for this service.

Regarding the market for fixed telephone services, the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) accounted for 76.5% market share, followed by Viettel with 21.5%.

ICT White Book details export growth

In 2013, Viet Nam earned US$34.7 billion from hardware-electronics exports, representing a 52-per cent year-on-year increase, and spent $26.4 billion on hardware-electronics imports, representing a 35.7-per cent year-on-year decrease.

The figures were announced at a ceremony held here yesterday on the publication of Viet Nam's 2014 White Book on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The National Steering Committee on Information Technology and the Ministry of Information and Communications has been publishing the White Book for the past six years.

According to the latest edition, in 2013, mobile phones accounted for 63 per cent of total export value, followed by automatic data processing machines with 9.82 per cent, printers with 7.25 per cent and integrated circuits with 6.26 per cent. Integrated circuits accounted for 28.5 per cent of total import value while phones and spare parts took 32.4 per cent.

On internet development, by the end of 2013, the country had 22.4 million broadband internet subscribers, an 11.2-per cent year-on-year increase, reaching an internet density of 25 per 100 people.

Total internet bandwidth in 2013 reached 640,000 Mbps, an 83-per cent year-on-year increase, while the total number of internet users climbed from 31.3 million in 2012 to 33.2 million last year.

Revenues from postal services in 2013 reached $317 million, a 15.7-per cent year-on-year increase, with services of the Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunication Group (VNPT) accounting for more than 50 per cent of market share.

However, the telecommunication market in 2013 witnessed a decrease in the number of mobile phone subscribers, from 131.6 million in 2012 to 123.7 million in 2013, while fixed-line phone subscribers likewise decreased from 9.5 million in 2012 to 6.7 million in 2013.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam dropped by two grades in the ICT Development Index, from 86th in 2012 to 88th in 2013. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) measured the index that ranked 155 countries.

But the country's IT industry remained among the top 10 in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of offshore services, with HCM City in the list of the world's top 20 and Ha Noi in the list of the world's top 30 outsourcing destinations.

Vietnam’s 2014 White Book on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), published annually since 2009 by the National Steering Committee on Information Technology and the Ministry of Information and Communications, aims to supplies information and data in the fields of ICT infrastructure.

This year’s book provides an overview of the 2013 IT sector’s development and updates information and data in the fields of IT, IT application, information safety, telecommunications, internet, and broadcasting and television.

The book also includes new information on exported and imported IT products, broadcasting and television channels, portals and websites, online games, social media sites and research reports.

The Vietnam White Book 2014 will be delivered to ministries, sectors, localities, IT agencies, and IT-related foreign organisations and IT giants - VNS

Na Son