Mobile broadband subscribers in Vietnam are expected to reach 90 millionby 2020, given the increasing affordability of smartphones.
At aconference on the future of mobile broadband in Vietnam, held in Hanoilast week, Chris Zull, the spectrum director for Asia under GroupeSpeciale Mobile Association (GSMA), said broadband services were growingrapidly in the country and the number of subscribers was expected totriple by 2020.
The increasing proportion of mobile broadbandsubscribers promised a rapid socio-economic development thanks to theapplication of technology, experts said, citing a World Bank estimatethat each 10-percent growth of broadband will add 1.38 percent to grossdomestic product (GDP).
Revealing researches thatshowed the contribution of mobile broadband to GDP and improving livingstandards, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Le NamThang stressed that mobile broadband played an important role insocio-economic development.
Thang noted that theanticipated rapid development of mobile broadband raised requirementssuch as the development of frequency resources and infrastructures.
He revealed that Vietnam had been preparing for the development of 4Gservice by managing frequency resources efficiently and ensuring thesustainable development of the mobile information market.
At the conference, Suvi Lenden from the United Nations BroadbandCommission pointed out that the price of broadband service,theoretically, should account for less than 5 percent of average monthlyincome, ictnews.vn reported.
With the averagemonthly income at 169 USD, broadband service fee should be less than170,000 VND (7.9 USD) per month in Vietnam.
Suvisaid that with a high proportion of population living in rural areas,Vietnam should lower broadband fees to enable services in the country togrow in coming years.
Nguyen Manh Hung, generaldirector of MobiFone, one of the three major mobile service providers inthe country, was quoted by ictnews.vn as saying that providers canafford to offer data services at a fee of 5 percent of income.
A representative of Viettel said that 4G service was in a trialstage and was expected to be launched at the end of this year.
Thenumber of 3G subscribers was estimated at nearly 30 million by the endof last year, according to Telecommunications Authority under theMinistry of Information and Communications.-VNA
At aconference on the future of mobile broadband in Vietnam, held in Hanoilast week, Chris Zull, the spectrum director for Asia under GroupeSpeciale Mobile Association (GSMA), said broadband services were growingrapidly in the country and the number of subscribers was expected totriple by 2020.
The increasing proportion of mobile broadbandsubscribers promised a rapid socio-economic development thanks to theapplication of technology, experts said, citing a World Bank estimatethat each 10-percent growth of broadband will add 1.38 percent to grossdomestic product (GDP).
Revealing researches thatshowed the contribution of mobile broadband to GDP and improving livingstandards, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Le NamThang stressed that mobile broadband played an important role insocio-economic development.
Thang noted that theanticipated rapid development of mobile broadband raised requirementssuch as the development of frequency resources and infrastructures.
He revealed that Vietnam had been preparing for the development of 4Gservice by managing frequency resources efficiently and ensuring thesustainable development of the mobile information market.
At the conference, Suvi Lenden from the United Nations BroadbandCommission pointed out that the price of broadband service,theoretically, should account for less than 5 percent of average monthlyincome, ictnews.vn reported.
With the averagemonthly income at 169 USD, broadband service fee should be less than170,000 VND (7.9 USD) per month in Vietnam.
Suvisaid that with a high proportion of population living in rural areas,Vietnam should lower broadband fees to enable services in the country togrow in coming years.
Nguyen Manh Hung, generaldirector of MobiFone, one of the three major mobile service providers inthe country, was quoted by ictnews.vn as saying that providers canafford to offer data services at a fee of 5 percent of income.
A representative of Viettel said that 4G service was in a trialstage and was expected to be launched at the end of this year.
Thenumber of 3G subscribers was estimated at nearly 30 million by the endof last year, according to Telecommunications Authority under theMinistry of Information and Communications.-VNA
