Bridge – Telecom service providers advertised the third-generation mobile network as the “river of broadband Internet” but after a short time, Vietnamese customers are disillusioned with 3G services.

Some used to claim that 3G would threaten broadband Internet and many people replaced broadband Internet service with 3G Internet. They have quickly realized their mistake.

A Viettel client complained that he has used the 3G Internet service for four months and the quality was very good in the first three months, however, “recently, it has become very difficult to visit a website, let alone play online games.”

A MobiFone customer noted that, at the beginning, MobiFone provided a 3G package worth 150,000 dong ($7.9)/month without restriction of capacity, but now this package has been replaced by a 300,000 dong/month package for up to 5 GB. “The connection is lost very often. It takes me 20 minutes to get a connection each time,” he grumbled.

The 3G service provided by VinaPhone is not any better. “If you want to use Internet on your cell phone, you must bring your phone to the roof-top,” a VinaPhone client commented.

At present, all 3G service providers in Vietnam have quietly stopped providing service package without capacity restriction.

Wireless Internet services can’t compete with broadband Internet in terms of product cost. The average price of broadband service is less than 100 dong/GB compared with 1-1.5 million dong/GB of 3G service. The mobile Internet service is only appropriate for those who move very often.

PV