Vietnam Internet Case Study
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VIETNAM INTERNET CASE STUDY March 2002 INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION GENEVA, SWITZERLAND Tim Kelly and Michael Minges wrote this report. Lara Srivastava and Audrey Selian contributed to some sections. Vanessa Gray provided editorial comments and Nathalie Delmas handled formatting and production. The report is based on field research undertaken 14-18 May 2001 as well as reports and articles identified in the bibliography or as footnotes. We would like to thank the Directorate General of Posts and Telecommunications for arranging the meetings. The views expressed are those of the authors and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), its members or the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This report is one of a series of Internet Case Studies. Additional information is available on the Internet Case Studies web site <www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs>. © ITU 2002 ii Contents 1. Country background ............................................................ 1 1.1 Overview ............................................................................ 1 1.2 Demography ........................................................................ 1 1.3 Economy ............................................................................. 1 1.4 Human development ............................................................ 2 1.5 Government ........................................................................ 3 2. Telecommunication and Mass Media .................................... 4 2.1 Telecommunications Sector ...................................................4 2.2 Public Telecommunication Operators....................................... 4 2.3 Regulation and policy-making ................................................ 8 2.4 Tariffs............................................................................... 11 2.5 Network ............................................................................ 13 2.6 International traffic ............................................................ 14 2.7 Mass Media ....................................................................... 15 3. Internet ............................................................................. 18 3.1 History.............................................................................. 18 3.2 Market structure: A Quartet................................................. 19 3.3 International connectivity and peering .................................. 20 3.4 Regulation ......................................................................... 21 3.5 Licensing........................................................................... 21 3.6 Tariffs............................................................................... 21 3.7 Universal access................................................................. 22 3.8 Content ............................................................................ 22 3.9 Domain name .................................................................... 22 3.10 VoIP (See Box 2.1) ............................................................. 23 3.11 Quality of Service ............................................................... 23 3.12 Mobile Internet .................................................................. 23 4. National absorption ........................................................... 25 4.1 Government ...................................................................... 25 4.2 Education .......................................................................... 25 4.3 Health .............................................................................. 27 4.4 e-commerce ...................................................................... 28 5. Conclusions ....................................................................... 33 5.1 State of the Internet in Vietnam........................................... 33 5.2 Recommendations.............................................................. 34 Annex 1: List of meetings........................................................ 39 Annex 2: Acronyms and abbreviations .................................... 40 Annex 3: Useful links .............................................................. 42 Annex 4: Framework dimensions ............................................ 43 iii Figures 1.1 Map of Vietnam ....................................................................1 2.1 Vietnam's place in the region .................................................5 2.2 Ratio between fixed and mobile lines......................................6 2.3 Mobilephone development in Vietnam .....................................8 2.4 Comparative tariffs ............................................................. 13 2.5 Tariff rebalancing (or the lack of it) in Vietnam ....................... 14 2.6 Vietnam's international traffic .............................................. 15 3.1 Vietnam on the Net ............................................................ 18 3.2 Internet market ................................................................. 19 5.1 State of Internet in Vietnam ................................................ 33 Tables 1.1 Human Development Indicators............................................. 2 2.1 Business Co-operation Contracts (BCC) for telecommunication networks and services in Vietnam ........ 11 2.2 Main telecommunication indicators for Vietnam, 1991-2000 .... 12 3.1 Internet connections........................................................... 20 3.2 Internet Dial-up Tariffs, July 2001 ....................................... 21 4.1 Government on the Web in Vietnam ..................................... 26 Boxes 2.1 IP Telephony in Vietnam........................................................ 7 2.2 Telstra investing in Vietnam ................................................. 10 2.3 Advertising in Vietnam ........................................................ 16 3.1 SPT Cybercafés.................................................................. 22 4.1 Vietnam's Software Parks .................................................... 31 iv 1. Country background 1. Country background 1.1 Overview Figure 1.1: Map of Vietnam The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, occupying 331’114 square kilometres, borders China to the north, Laos to the west and Cambodia to the southwest. On the east, it is bordered by a 3’260 kilometres long coast line. Vietnam is marked by two delta regions at either end of the country, the Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south, which are separated by the narrow region of the Central Highlands. Three quarters of Vietnam’s territory is composed of mountains and hills. Administratively, the country consists of 57 provinces and four centrally administered cities (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang). Its capital, Hanoi, lies on the Red River. 1.2 Demography Vietnam’s population was estimated at 76.3 million people in April 1999, the second most populated nation in South East Asia.1 The latest estimate for 2000 is a population of 77.7 million with annual average growth at 1.7 per Source: The World Factbook. cent. Around three quarters (76.5 per cent) of the population resides in rural areas. The largest city is Ho Chi Minh with five million people. Hanoi is home at the Sixth Party Congress in to 2.7 million. December 1986. The top priority of the Doi Moi policy is the economy and The largest ethnic group are the Viet the creation of a market-oriented accounting for 87 per cent of the environment. Vietnam has made population.2 There are 53 other ethnic significant progress over the last groups (accounting for around decade in this transition, building up eight million people), the majority of investment and maintaining consistent which reside in the mountainous areas. growth. Nonetheless, the role of the Vietnam’s official language is Vietnamese. state remains influential via use of Chinese, English and French are utilized measures such as five-year plans, price to a lesser extent; ethnic languages are controls, production planning, and also part of the linguistic landscape. access to credit, with the underlying objective to achieve stable economic 1.3 Economy growth and development. The shift from a centrally planned For the decade after the introduction economy towards a policy of renova- of Doi Moi, the economy performed tion (Doi Moi) was formally adopted impressively. During the period 1986- 1 Vietnam Internet Case Study 1990, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) computer components, and coffee. grew around four per cent a year and Export value for 2000 was inflation was brought under control. US$ 14.5 billion, with major trade The next five-year period, from 1991- partners being Japan (18 per cent), 1996 was even more impressive with China (11 per cent), Singapore (7 per economic growth averaging an annual cent), Taiwan-China (5 per cent) and rate of over eight per cent. More than Australia (9 per cent). The value of US$ 20 billion of foreign direct imports was US$ 15.6 billion in 2000, investment flowed in and the level of with major imports comprised of GDP contribution by the non-State machinery and equipment, refined economic sector grew to 60 per cent.3 petroleum, textiles, steel, electronic Poverty declined from 58 per cent in components and fertilizer. 1993 to 37 per cent in 1998.4 Vietnam is committed to regional Economic growth declined to 4.4 per global economic integration through cent in 1998 as a result of the regional its participation in ASEAN