Telecoms firms seeking new pastures

Total telecom service revenue came to just under $5.9 billion in 2023, an increase of only 0.4 per cent compared to 2022 and reaching 99.5 per cent of the full-year projections.

In 2022, this figure was $5.82 billion, up 1.6 per cent on the year before.

Addressing the 2023 end-of-year meetings of the three top telecoms firms in the country, VNPT, MobiFone and Viettel, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung noted that traditional telecom services, such as voice service and SMS which had once been responsible for almost all the revenue for telecom services providers, could nosedive to just below 10 per cent.

“The current growth rate of major telecoms is quite low, standing at 2-5 per cent annually for Viettel and 2-3 per cent for VNPT, while some in the new generation are growing at 10 per cent annually. The traditional firms have yet to find new pastures for growth, with the old space seemingly showing little room for expansion, even receding,” said Hung.

The MIC leader added that there would be important shifts in the ICT field in the coming decades, such as moving from casual telecom infrastructure to digital infrastructure, from IT to digital technology, from IT application to digital transformation, from automation to AI, and more.

“Those shifts are also the development orientations of network operators,” said Hung, stressing that the new growth spaces for network operators are digital infrastructure, 5G, AI, semiconductor chips, and digital transformation services, and network security.

Viettel has developed its platforms recently, along with simultaneously deploying diverse IT solutions and digital services to a wide range of customers, both corporate and retail customers.

Tao Duc Thang, chairman and general director of Viettel Group, said, “Viettel's slogan this year is ‘joining efforts, resonating values, creating the future’. In particular, ‘creating the future’ means creating a global standard tech business, a nucleus to build the country's modern defence industry, and striving to be a key force in creating a digital society. To achieve that, we need to be faster, more comprehensive, and more outstanding.”

Meanwhile, Huynh Quang Liem, general director of VNPT, said, “We focus on the development of platforms, platform ecosystems, and digital transformation products for businesses; converting traditional telecom services into core platforms, developing personal digital service ecosystems for households through integrating diverse digital services such as digital finance, digital content, and digital utilities.”

VNPT takes pole position in broadband and television services in terms of market share. In digital services provision and e-government, the company continues to receive the trust of competent management agencies, localities, and businesses.

“VNPT focuses on the development of platforms, platform ecosystems, and digital transformation products for businesses; converting traditional telecom services into core platforms, developing personal digital service ecosystems for households through integrating diverse digital services such as digital finance, digital content, and digital utilities,” said Liem.

For its part, Nguyen Hong Hien, chairman of MobiFone, said, "This year, Mobifone will continue to accelerate the launch of new products and services such as Cloud, Smart Travel, AI Hub, online gaming platforms, while gradually perfecting digital ecosystems for individual customers through developing super apps, such as telecom applications, OTT, digital content, Io, and fintech."

MobiFone plans to upgrade and expand big data; push up data processing and analysis; develop and apply AI and Generative AI into the company’s products, services and tech systems; and continue to promote 5G, with the goal of possessing at least 1,000 5G stations in 2024.

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