S-Fone on brink of disappearing from telecom market

>> S-Fone is still in a bind

S-Fone, or the CDMA Mobile Phone Center S-Telecom, began providing service in July 2003, when it was expected to bring in strong development for the Vietnamese telecom market by breaking the market monopoly created by MobiFone and Vinaphone -- the country’s only two mobile operators at the time.

S-Fone was the first network to provide services with the CDMA technology in Vietnam, with its arrival in the market listed among the country’s top 10 ICT events in 2003.

The telecom operator’s creation was the result of a business cooperation contract between the Saigon Post and Telecommunication Service JSC (SPT), and Korea’s SLD Telecom, most of whose stake is held by SK Telecom.

The hard times for S-Fone began in 2010, when SK Telecom divested from S-Fone, putting SPT into a double-whammy of struggling to maintain S-Fone operations, and seeking an alternative strategic partner for stable development.

On August 9, 2011, the government allowed S-Fone to divert into a joint venture from a business cooperation contract, becoming the second mobile service joint venture in Vietnam.

“It was then that S-Fone started to fall deeper into trouble, with the number of subscribers falling sharply after this diversion,” said Vu Minh Tri, Regional CEO of Qualcomm in Indochina and Thailand.

Moreover, three other leading mobile operators, namely MobiFone, Vinaphone, and Viettel, which use the GSM (2G), and WCDMA (3G) technologies, have left S-Fone behind with their huge promotional campaigns.

Subscribers are thus attracted by the three, exacerbating S-Fone’s hardship.

S-Fone dealers halt operations

Pham Tien Thinh, S-Fone managing director, told Tuoi Tre on Wednesday that the network’s service quality has been affected by its process of linking and optimizing the transmission infrastructure and other relevant services.

“It is a complicated process, and takes a long time to complete,” said Thinh. “Network services in certain areas can also be interrupted.”

He said the company’s chiefs are implementing measures to solve the problems quickly.

Thinh added that since S-Fone is in the last stage of its diversion to meet the current development trend, some of its dealers have to temporarily cease operations.

“However, our call center will remain operating 24/24 to serve customers countrywide,” he confirmed.

As for customer service, Thinh also admitted that S-Fone is facing difficulties in maintaining this service in some localities around the country.

“We are sharing the difficulties with the whole economy,” he said.

He said the service provider is undergoing a comprehensive restructuring process, and boosting partnership with local and foreign companies.

Even if SPT fails to partner with any investors, it will still be able to maintain network operation, he affirmed.

“We are negotiating with certain potential strategic partners,” he said.

“But we have yet to be able to publicize any information, due to some restriction clauses agreed amongst the parties.”