One year after the Ministry of Inform-ation and Communications issued a policy based on tightening promotion activities, domestic mobile phone service suppliers are duelling to attract farmers, students and fishermen from remote areas.

Responding to the new regulation, issued in July 2010, most telecom companies announced that they would cease large-scale promotion programmes, instead classifying customers and choosing network coverage regions in which they hold advantage in order to attract new subscribers.

Representatives from VinaPhone and MobiFone all agreed that increasing the volume of subscribers in large cities was not as effective an approach as in the past.

As a result, they explained, mobile phone service suppliers have attracted the last potential customers of the market.

VinaPhone recently announced a number of packages aimed at students throughout the country to enjoy cheap charges and various promotions.

Moreover, VinaPhone has introduced a package called "farmer and worker" by which users will stand a chance to enjoy large promotions from August 1 to October 31.

In turn, MobiFone has designed a package aimed at youth unions, farmers and workers.

No less competitive, Viettel announced its Sea+ package, suitable to those living on islands and in coastal areas and complete with a weather information service.

Hoang Son, director of Viettel Telecom, said that fishermen often went fishing in teams over a period of several months during which the new packages could help them stay in touch with their families.

According to Viettel, Viet Nam's coastal areas are home to around 29.2 million people, which with 1,400 base transceiver stations, the company is perfectly suited of servicing.

With its new package, the company hopes to attract 2 million new subscribers, including 70,000 fishermen.

While the race among suppliers already started in 2009, at the time, focus mainly on students, elderly people and housewives from large cities.

Currently, the target has shifted to also include potential customers from rural areas, industrial zones and coastal areas.

VNS