Military-run telecom to enter pay TV industry

February 06, 2012 | 15:50

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The military-run Viettel Group has said it plans to enter the pay TV industry this year.

Viettel said it had become harder to accelerate profits at a time when the telecom industry has become saturated.

“There is little room left for us to grow in the telecom industry, which encourages us to expand into the pay TV sector,” Deputy CEO Nguyen Manh Hung told the Vietnamese Post Newspaper.

There are currently only 4.5 million pay TV subscribers in Vietnam, a rate Hung said was too low compared to other countries.

“With many businesses expected to jump into the industry this year, the pay TV market is likely to boom,” he said.

A huge source of capital and a developed transmission infrastructure would be Viettel’s largest advantages in exploiting the pay TV market, industry insiders said.

However, Viettel’s lack of experience in content organizing, compared to its rivals VTV and HTV, could also be a challenge.

In terms of attractive service prices, Viettel would also face tough competition from several major providers such as K+ and VTV, experts said.

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