Vietnam’s leading telecom service provider Viettel Corporation has said it will set up a software offshoot to diversify its business operations now that the telecom market has been approaching the saturation point.

Hoang Anh Xuan, general director of Viettel, told the Daily on the phone that Viettel would develop its software service center into a software company.

“Many people know us as the leading telecom group. Now, we want to venture into other areas like software and other services related to information technology and telecom,” he said.

Xuan said, “Expanding into other areas is an important strategy as the telecom service market becomes saturated in the country.”

Under its plan, the software service center will become a member of Viettel Corporation. It will provide software products linked to telecom trading and telecom network management, as well as develop enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, e-commerce and e-Government-related products.

Alongside the plan to tap the software market, the giant telco will offer various services like data center leasing, video conferencing, web conferencing, online tax declaration, and 3G-based Virtual Private Network service, among others.

Xuan said that apart from consolidating its domestic market footing, Viettel is marching into foreign markets where telecom penetration is low. According to Xuan, Viettel targets to invest into 15 nations with a combined population of 400-500 million.

Up to date, Viettel has invested in Cambodia, Haiti and Mozambique.

Last year, the company gained VND15.5 trillion in pretax profit, increasing 52% over 2009. This year, Viettel targets to obtain VND117 trillion in revenue, an increase of 25% year-on-year.

Source: SGT