Viettel Corporation retains its top position in the Vietnamese telecommunications market in 2013, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Its total revenue surpasses that of the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), topping 43.8 trillion VND (2.08 billion USD), and its total number of subscribers exceeds that of VNPT.

VNPT's revenue in 2013 is estimated to reach 119 trillion VND (5.66 billion USD), and its profits are projected to reach 9.2 trillion VND (438 million USD).

It is estimated to contribute 7.9 trillion VND to the State budget. The number of subscribers who left VNPT's network is higher than that of its new subscribers, with 500,000 fixed-line subscribers and 10.8 million mobile phone users leaving the network.

Meanwhile, the Ha Noi Telecom JSC is expected to earn a revenue of 8.4 trillion VND and contribute 159 billion VND to the state budget in 2013. The total number of its Vietnamobile subscribers reached 10 million this year.

Le Dang Dung, deputy general director of Viettel, recently told the Saigon Times Daily that Viettel is trying to tap three new markets every year, targeting to make overseas revenue account for 20-30 percent of total revenue of the group in 2020.

Viettel does not only aim at markets with small numbers of mobile service users. In Peru, the ratio of mobile phone subscribers over the population has almost reached 100 percent. However, Viettel still invests in the nation due to a potential third generation (3G) service market, Dung added.

The official further said Viettel also has opportunities to invest in three other countries in Africa and Latin America, but he declined to disclose the names of such countries.

In the country, Viettel has to reach five million subscribers to secure profitability while in overseas markets, it only has to reach around two million subscribers to break even. The reason is the enterprise spends less on network infrastructures in other countries, he said.

Viettel has 14.75 million international subscribers, of which nearly 3.09 million were added this year.

This year, Viettel targets to obtain 163 trillion VND in revenue compared to last year’s figure of 140 trillion VND, of which revenues from overseas markets will account for around 15 percent.

Its profits before tax and earnings after tax are expected to be more than 35 trillion VND (1.6 billion USD) and 26.4 trillion VND (1.25 billion USD) respectively, a 27.5 percent and 25.2 percent rise respectively over 2012. The group is projected to contribute nearly 13.6 trillion VND (647.6 million USD) to the state budget this year.

Last year, the group generated nearly 600 million USD in revenue and 76 million USD in profit from overseas telecom services, up 85 percent against 2011. It has gained profits from four foreign markets, Cambodia, Laos, Mozambique and Haiti.

Having got licences in seven foreign markets, Viettel is seeking investment opportunities in Tanzania and Myanmar in a bid to raise overseas incomes, according to the Saigon Times Daily

If the enterprise wins a business license in Tanzania, Viettel will raise the total number of its foreign markets to eight, the other seven being Timor Leste, Peru, Cameroon, Mozambique, Cambodia, Laos and Haiti.

Up to now, Viettel has officially provided services in five out of seven foreign markets. The enterprise will start its business in Cameroon in mid-2014 and is going to launch it mobile network in Peru.-VNA