Communications in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

include the use of telephones,

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

Telephones

Vietnam is putting considerable effort into modernization and expansion of its telecommunication system. Domestically, all provincial exchanges are digitalized and connected to Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City by

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

cable or microwave radio relay networks. Main lines have been substantially increased, and the use of mobile telephones is growing rapidly. As of 2012, there were 134 million

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

subscribers, making Vietnam's rank 6th in the world. Two satellite earth stations are in use: Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region). The incumbent operator is the

Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT, ), is a telecommunications company, owned by the Government of Vietnam, Vietnamese Government, and the national post office of Vietnam. According to a list of UNDP in 2007, it is the second-lar ...

, which spun off from the Department General of Posts and Telecommunications after the separation of regulatory and commercial functions of the latter in 1990. Following the creation of a separate regulatory entity, market segments were opened to competition, starting with mobile services in 1995. The international services market, considered the most lucrative, was opened to other providers in 2000.

Mobile networks

Viettel Mobile The Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (), less formally recognized as Viettel Group () or simply Viettel, is a Vietnamese multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. Viettel is the largest telecomm ...

(directly under Viettel Corp.): 032, 033, 034, 035, 036, 037, 038, 039, 096, 097, 098 *

MobiFone Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services One Member Limited Liability Company (with the brand MobiFone vi, Tổng công ty Viễn Thông MobiFone) is a major Vietnamese mobile network operator headquartered in Trung Hoa Nhan Chinh, Hanoi. Founded on 16 ...

(directly under VMS): 070, 076, 077, 078, 079, 089, 090, 093 *

VinaPhone Vinaphone is a Vietnamese major mobile network operator headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. Founded June 26, 1996, as a GSM launcher, Vinaphone is the second network (after MobiFone) and currently the second largest provider in Vietnam. Partnersh ...

(directly under VNPT): 081, 082, 083, 084, 085, 086, 088, 091, 094 *

S-Fone S-Fone was a mobile communication operator in Vietnam that used the CDMA technology. Founded on 1 July 2003 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, S-Fone became the third network of Vietnam, breaking the duopoly of the two VNPT operators. It is the ...

(directly under CDMA S-Telecom): 095 *

Vietnamobile Vietnamobile is a Vietnamese mobile network operator. It is a joint-venture of Hanoi Telecom and Hutchison Asia Telecom Group and the fourth largest provider as of 2012. History HT Mobile was set up in 2007 as a joint-venture of Hanoi Telecom ...

(ex-HT Mobile): 092, 052, 056, 058 * Beeline (directly under G-Tel): 059, 099 At the beginning of 2013, S-Fone and Beeline services are temporarily shut down due to hard competitions with other mobile operators. Beeline, a mobile operator found by Global Telecommunications Corporation or G-Tel and VimpelCom came to the market in 2009. A company with cooperation between companies from Vietnam and Russia ended its service by the end of the year 2012 as a result of G-Tel became the owner of Beeline after VimpelCom sold all stocks to its partner. Earlier in 2010, SK Telecom decided to pull out of the Vietnam mobile market when stopping cooperation with SPT - Saigon Postel Corp. in S-Fone.

Broadcast media

The government controls all broadcast media exercising oversight through the Ministry of Information and Communication. The government-controlled national TV provider, Vietnam Television, operates a network of 9 channels with several regional broadcasting centers. The programming is relayed nationwide via a network of provincial and municipal TV stations. Vietnam law limits access to satellite TV, but many households are able to access foreign programming via home satellite equipment. *Broadcast stations: six (plus 61 provincial TV stations) (as of 2006)

Internet

Although basic Internet services had existed in Vietnam since the early nineties, the first commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP) opened for business in 1997. Since 1997 Vietnam has been connected by two gateways: one in Hanoi which connects with

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and Australia, and the other in Ho Chi Minh City, which connects with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

by Sprint. Vietnam ranks 16th in the world in terms of number of internet users, far above any of its neighboring SE Asian nations.CIA World Fact Book There are five ISPs operating: Netnam Company, Vietnam Data Communication Company (VDC), Corporation for Finance and Promoting Technology (FPT), Saigon Post and Telecommunications Services Corporation (Saigon Postel Corporation, SPT) and Viettel Company. In the large cities, fiber service is widely available.

Telephones

Mobile networks

Broadcast media

Internet

Statistics

See also

References

External links

Resources