The Hanoitimes - State-owned telecom giants Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone continue to dominate the Vietnamese telecom market, indicating a less competitive year in 2013.
Last year, many small mobile providers fell into difficulties and had to withdraw from the market.
Early in 2012, EVN Telecom was acquired by Viettel. Shortly after, VimpelCom decided to sell its stake in Beeline mobile network to Gtel Mobile Joint Stock Company (Gtel Mobile) for just US$45 million.
Meanwhile, S-Fone, crushed by debt, ended its CDMA service, and Dong Duong Telecom had its licence to provide a mobile virtual-network service revoked. The withdrawal, together with the merger of numerous small firms, shows that the Vietnamese telecom market is not as attractive as people thought.
Experts forecast a gloomy future for small telecom operators in 2013. They also warned about the emergence of a telecom monopoly. State-owned mobile networks hold up to 95% of the domestic telecom market, but the competition between them is not really keen.
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