Viettel: Success story in business and defence

Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan lauded Viettel's achievements during the joint working session

Minister Tuan said that mirroring the bravery of Vietnamese soldiers who always take hard work on themselves, Viettel always puts national interests and the interests of the people above its own business interests, helping Vietnam develop into a better country.

During the recent working session at Viettel with Minister of Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich, Minister Tuan had a thorough look at the corporation from an economic viewpoint.

Viettel accounts for 50 per cent of the revenue of the biggest ICT enterprises

Minister Tuan emphasised, "After 30 years of establishment, Viettel has created a turning point in the history of Vietnam’s development by leveraging telecommunications and IT to not only raise the status of the Vietnamese technology diaspora and national defence, but spread the image of Vietnam across the world.

According to industry leaders, the 2016 profits of the five leading telecom enterprises, including Viettel, VNPT, MobiFone, VTC, VNPost, was VND417.3 trillion ($18.4 billion) and their tax contributions amounted to VND49.5 trillion ($2.2 billion). Of the five enterprises, Viettel contributed 61.5 per cent of the total profit with VND256.6 trillion billion ($11.3 billion) and submitted VND40.4 trillion ($1.8 billion) in tax.

In the first five months of 2017, the total profit of these five companies was VND212.2 trillion ($9.3 billion) and VND25.2 trillion ($1.1 billion) was contributed to the national budget. Meanwhile, Viettel reached VND115.5 trillion ($5.1 billion) in profit and paid VND20.2 trillion ($888.8 million) in tax. Based on these figures, Viettel’s contribution to the economy is enormous.

Since the day Viettel entered the mobile industry in 2014, it had set the target of every Vietnamese individual having a moblie phone, and now, it can be proud to receive the compliment, "Viettel has created a boom in telecommunications in Vietnam, contributing most importantly to fulfilling the goal of every citizen having a mobile phone in five years since its establishment. In 2014, only 4 per cent of total population in Vietnam had a mobile device, and the figure today stands at 140 per cent," said Minister Tuan.

After reviewing the contributions of Viettel since joining the telecom market, Minister Tuan mentioned the important role this corporation played after the Ministry of Information and Communications started granting licences for the deployment of 4G broadband services. One of the four network operators that were granted this license, Viettel is leading and deploying 4G infrastructure very quickly, achieving nationwide coverage in just six months.

"This is something not even developed countries in the area and the world could do. We are proud to be one of the countries with nationwide 4G network coverage," said Minister Tuan.

The minister also raised the critical issue of network security, information security, and cyber warfare. This is a very difficult field, but Viettel actively takes on this task, investing heavily into building a specialist force to protect national interests. At its current capacity, Viettel will play a very important role for Vietnam to develop a network security industry.

Another issue lauded by Minister Tuan was that Viettel pioneered production research and produced a real-time billing system, which is "the brain and the heart” of telecommunications network infrastructure. Currently, only a few telecom manufacturers, such as Huawei and Ericsson, have similar systems in Vietnam.

In addition, Viettel also researches, develops, and manufactures important components for telecommunications network infrastructure, such as switchboards and 4G telecom equipment. Currently, Viettel has achieved early successes in the field of national defence infrastructure. Also, Viettel has created many high-technology solutions of special importance to ensure national security at all times.

Minister Tuan was also impressed by Viettel’s pioneering spirit in overseas investment. The company is now present in 10 countries around the world, serving 35 million subscribers.

"Viettel has the spirit of the brave soldiers who always take hard work on themselves, are not afraid of hardships, and finish what they start. I appreciate that Viettel always puts national interests and the interests of the people above its own business interests, and that it makes immense contributions to the development of our country. If there were no Viettel, people in the rural area would not have access to telecommunication services, since the profit is infinitesimal," said Minister Tuan.

The minister lauded Viettel's contribution to rural and borderland economies

Viettel—a successful combination of business and defence industry

Minister Tuan said that military enterprises in recent years have been taking a pioneering role in many fields and started operations in challenging rural areas. Thanks for the characteristics of the soldiers and the will to win, military enterprises such as Viettel have found a way to overcome challenges and thrive to success.

"It can be said that military enterprises make up about half of the top 10 enterprises in the country. Not only nationally, but also internationally recognised, some military enterprises have real prestige, effective business production practices, and a profound impact on the economy. Viettel, the 18th Army, Saigon New Port, and Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank all belong to this category."

"Without the army, without Viettel, rural and borderland areas would not receive investments."

Even the trillions of dollars channelled into the defence industry and networking tools would not be enough if Viettel did not work for national interests. If it was not for national information security, Viettel would not be actively researching telecommunications infrastructure production," the minister stressed.

A high level of organisation, strict executive command and discipline, self-awareness, the ability to handle sensitive situations, willpower to resolve difficulties—all of these are Viettel’s advantages in business. Viettel is a typical example of a successful enterprise stemming from the military.