The Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) continues to dominate the
market for internet service providers, claiming over 75 of subscribers, with
the remainder going to military-run provider Viettel and FPT Telecom.

The VNPT had over 2.5 million ADSL users by the end of 2009,
compared to Viettel’s 530,000 users and FPT Telecom’s 440,000 users.

Early this year, FPT Telecom set a goal to claim 30 per cent
of market share, while Viettel continued to assert it would maintain the second
place in the market.

But FPT Telecom general director Chu Thanh Ha admits that it
has been losing nearly as many customers as it can add, with the churning of
old-to-new customers reaching as much as 40 per cent. Up to 20 per cent of all
ADSL subscribers have changed their services several times, Ha says.

The VNPT also admits losing existing subscribers at a rate
of 13-15 per cent per year, even as it adds new ones. VNPT’s Ha Noi arm has
targeted a million of new broadband subscribers this year alone – and it has
been a challenge to meet the goal, says VNPT Ha Noi director Tran Manh Hung.

Viettel deputy director Le Huu Hien admits that growth in
the market has been disappointing, noting that a large number of users now
accessed the internet using mobile broadband and 3G services rather than
through ADSL services.

Sensing which way the winds are blowing, Viettel is now
paying more attention to the mobile broadband market than to ADSL development,
since it has realised that heavy investment in ADSL infrastructure can no
longer be recouped by the number of new customers added.

None of the major ADSL providers has ever released figures
on how revenues or profits from providing the services.

The Ministry of Information and Communications has licensed
over 40 internet service providers but recently revoked a number of them due to
a lack of progress by licensees in deploying services.

Source: VNS