ADSL market in Dong Nai: “Supply” will not run after “demand” any more?

* ADSL supply in “dribs and drab”

FPT Telecommunications Stock Company (FPT Telecom) has just joined in the broad band Internet service provider (ADSL) market in Dong Nai.

Even though there are currently 5 Internet Service Providers (ISP) nationwide: VNPT, FPT, Saigon Postel (SPT), Netnam and Viettel, there are only two ISP’s in Dong Nai, namely VNPT and Viettel. The provincial post office, part of the VNPT Group, is an enterprise which has lots of conditions in investing and developing the infrastructure in a large scale for providing ADSL services throughout the province, whereas Viettel is able to invest in key areas where the demand is highest. The fact that “supply” has not met “demand” in the past bothered a lot of clients. Ms. Nguyen My Ngoc residing at C3 Apartment at An Binh Ward (Bien Hoa City) cannot help being discouraged with the current dribs and drabs ADSL supply. “It has been over a year since I submitted the application for ADSL installation to the post office of Bien Hoa Industrial Park so that I can look for information and improve my education for teaching work. However, I feel very sad because I always receive the same answer whenever asking the post office about the application, i.e. I have to wait a few months more.” Talking with us, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, Technical Director of the Provincial Post Office concedes: “Recently, since there has been a deferment in the post office’s investment in the ADSL infrastructure,  the clients’ demands could not be all met.” At present, over 1,700 registration applications are still piled up at the post office because there is no more ADSL port. Recently, the post office had to quickly install another 16,000 ports out of its 33,000 targeted ports for 2007. Mr. Hung analyzed that since the investment capital is relatively big and the project must be approved by VNPT, the provincial post office can only focus on providing ADSL services in areas where there are over a few hundred registration applications. He also stressed that the competition in this market is very tough, forcing enterprises to quickly invest into the infrastructure to process the registration applications rapidly.  

Last week, there was one more ADSL service provider in Dong Nai, which made clients feel more encouraged because they have one more option and hope that the registration for installation in the “petitioning-granting” mechanism will not happen any more and that there is no more pestering from installation workers,  which has been voiced by the public. Although ISP’s have the right to select and give priority to clients, what may make it difficult to understand is that these providers keep on offering the best ADSL service packages with attractive promotion.     

* Attractive promotion

Although FPT Telecommunications Stock Company (FPT Telecom), an ADSL service provider that just kicked off in Dong Nai last week, provided the service in Bien Hoa City only, the MegaME package offered by this provider is pretty attractive. This is considered a package with the fastest transmitting and receiving speed in the country at present, with the downloading speed of 5,120 Kbps and the uploading speed of 640 Kbps. It is compatible with FPT Telecom’s IPTV (Internet TV) service  for watching 40 TV channels which is expected to expand to 60 channels soon. In Dong Nai, FPT is now offering 8 various packages for families, enterprises and Internet agents. According to an FPT Telecom representative in Dong Nai, the company will try to provide the service throughout Bien Hoa City from now until the end of the year. Since it may take time to invest into the infrastructure, the company will make a commitment with clients in areas where there have not yet had ports. Likewise, the other two providers, namely VNPT and Viettel also incessantly promote their services by recently cutting down access fees and increasing the transmitting speed. With 270,000 fixed phone subscriptions in the province, the provincial post office hopes that its ADSL service package based on the available telephone lines will help it increase the number of clients quickly. Regarding the procedure, owners of the fixed phone subscription with the provincial post office only need an ID copy and fill in the registration form to register for this  ADSL service. Even though ADSL service providers offer a lot of different packages and attractive services, perhaps improving transmitting lines, cutting down access fees and expanding service areas are what clients expect in the future.

(Translated by THKC)