Telecommunications asked to become spearhead sector hinh anh 1PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc also attended the launch ceremony of the Vinaphone S service organised by the VNPT Vinaphone Corporation (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT) and the telecommunications sector to become a spearhead sector and make more contributions to the country’s development during a working session with the group on August 4.

The PM suggested that the VNPT should focus on hi-tech industrial production and minimise importing, while paying more attention to direct workers and sales teams to improve labourers’ income.

The VNPT should also promote solidarity and better the Party building work, especially among leaders, he said.

The PM requested the VNPT to take the leading in Vietnam’s telecommunications market, especially in broadband telecommunications and the satellite network, while developing mobile telecommunications and bringing Vinaphone to an international level.

He called for VNPT’s stronger engagement in the building of e-government, enhancing the quality and expanding the data transmission network of the Party and State to grassroots levels, ensuring the absolute safety and security for the network which serves as a means of connection, document delivery and online conferencing between the central and local agencies.

The group should also divest its investment in other sectors, and build a plan for stronger equitisation to attract more resources and improve its effectiveness, while streamlining the organisation, he said.

According to VNPT leaders, the group has enjoyed good results from its restructuring since 2014.

Its leadership and management team members were reduced from 20 percent to 10 percent, while its sales force was increased to nearly 15,000 from around 4,000.

VNPT owns the largest telecommunication infrastruction in Vietnam . The group manages Vinasat-1 and Vinasat-2 satellites, providing services to the most remote areas.

Its total revenue in the 2011-2015 period reached 562.65 trillion VND, or 100 percent of its target. The group’s profit hit 34.09 trillion VND, fulfilling 92.1 percent of its goal. In its restructuring period from 2013 to 2015, it secured an average growth of 17.6 percent per annum.

In the first half of this year, revenue was 61.34 trillion VND, equal to 47 percent of its target, while profits hit 2.19 trillion VND, or 51.4 percent of its goal, up 23.5 percent year on year. The number of new mobile service subscribers reached 6.4 million, up 47.5 percent over the same period last year. Meanwhile, total Internet subcribers were 250,000, a rise of 61.2 percent over the same time in 2015.

Its total divested capital reached 602 billion VND out of its target of 2 trillion VND.

Thanks to strong restructuring, its revenue growth reached 47 percent, while budget payment grew 35 percent. The VNPT has been assigned to develop 4G service in 2016.

On the occasion, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc also attended the launch ceremony of the Vinaphone S service organised by the VNPT Vinaphone Corporation. This is the first satellite service provided by a Vietnamese provider, which covers the entirety of Vietnam ’s territory, including sky, sea and islands and border areas. Vinaphone coverage has expanded to two-thirds of the world, which is useful in search and rescue activities.-VNA
VNA