There is no 3G quality standard yet.

Although 3G service has been deployed in Vietnam for nearly four years, the management agency has not yet issued a set of quality standards for this service. The inspection of 3G service quality is only based on the commitment of telecommunications enterprises.

Students use 3G to read newspapers and find study materials - Photo: Quang Dinh

Meanwhile, although network operators claim that the quality of 3G service is guaranteed, many users of this service say that the quality is very poor and not commensurate with the price.

No standard set yet

On October 17, at the discussion on why 3G rates are increasing organized by the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Duc Trung, Deputy Director of the Telecommunications Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), said that the current management of 3G quality is mainly based on the commitments of enterprises. When providing services or submitting documents to request a 3G rate increase, enterprises must have a commitment on quality and the ministry will check the service quality according to the commitment of each enterprise.

Explaining the reason for basing on the commitment of the enterprise to check the quality of 3G, Mr. Trung admitted that the Ministry of Information and Communications is still... building a set of quality standards for this service. "Mobile services already have standards, but mainly voice services, while data and 3G services are in the process of completing a set of quality standards," Mr. Trung said.

According to Mr. Trung, the set of standards being developed will be based on the protection of customers' rights. In the coming time, when checking the quality of services, the ministry will publicly announce all the results of the quality of telecommunications services in general, including the targets that businesses commit to, at the same time as this price adjustment.

However, answering the question about 3G quality, Mr. Ho Duc Thang - Deputy Director of Vinaphone Company - said that in the past, this network has fulfilled the commitment made by the Ministry of Information and Communications. Every year, the Ministry also conducts inspections and measurements in the areas designated by the Ministry and Vinaphone always ensures the quality of the supply, even higher than the quality prescribed by the Ministry (?).

However, Mr. Thang admitted that the network construction must follow a roadmap, while building, we must also study techniques to optimize the network and adjust the broadcasting stations, so while adjusting and upgrading the network, there are places and times when the quality does not meet customer requirements.

Increase across the board due to billing cycle?

Regarding the 40% increase in 3G rates, Mr. Nguyen Duc Trung said that the Telecommunications Department did not specify how much the rate would increase, but calculations showed that the rate would increase by an average of 20%. Mr. Trung said that there are many packages for customers to choose from, and it is not necessary to use the increased rate package because there are also discounted rates.

Mr. Trung also explained that the reason why the enterprises controlling the market and simultaneously increasing the price at the same time was due to the Ministry of Information and Communications. Specifically, in August 2013, the enterprises submitted documents requesting price increases. On October 4, the Ministry decided to allow network operators to increase 3G prices but did not specify a specific time.

“We do not have the authority to consider whether the network operators are colluding with each other or not,” said Mr. Trung. The network operators explained that their billing cycle is at the beginning or middle of the month, so when the decision was made, they took the middle of the month (October 16) to increase the price, and there was no agreement.

Deputy Director of the Competition Management Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Tran Anh Son said that according to the provisions of the competition litigation law, all information provided by enterprises as well as the Ministry of Information and Communications is a source of evidence. However, the Competition Management Department does not have the right to conclude who violated the law, but the competition case handling council must conclude through a hearing.

At that time, at the hearing, the parties under investigation, the investigating agency and the competition handling council will participate in the debate. If a violation is concluded, a fine will be imposed, the maximum amount of which can be 10% of the total turnover of the fiscal year prior to the year of the violation.

People have reflected, it must be checked.

According to a leader of the Consumer Rights Protection Board of the Competition Management Department, for services related to many people such as 3G services, there should be common standards applied, or if following the standards of the enterprise, the inspection and supervision should be regular and the results should be public to create transparency and ensure the rights of consumers.

According to this person, it is very difficult for people to prove that a business provides poor quality services. However, if there is any doubt, consumers have the right to send a request to the Competition Management Department and the Telecommunications Department so that the authorities have a basis to work on.

Mr. Tran Cong Tuan, former head of the Hanoi Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality, said that when people have complained and the press has spoken out about the quality of 3G services not being as expected, the authorities need to intervene. Even with standards that are self-built and announced by enterprises, if they do not meet the standards, they need to be severely punished. If the fines are still not met, the quality criteria must be reviewed, along with the price at a reasonable level.

According to Mr. Tuan, the authorities cannot conduct inspections all day long, but if inspections still fail, and people report that the service quality is not up to standard or not as announced, they must conduct more frequent and strict inspections. When businesses that do not meet the standards are discovered and strictly handled, and publicly announced, then the quality will be under pressure and will gradually improve.

Quality is not commensurate

Regarding the unusual increase in 3G rates, Tuoi Tre has received hundreds of emails from readers expressing their frustration with the quality of service and their reaction to the price increase of network operators. In a letter to Tuoi Tre, reader To Van Can expressed his frustration that since the network operator increased the 3G rate from 40,000 VND to 50,000 VND, “the quality has not changed at all, it is still as slow as a turtle”.

“Back home in Ha Nam, right next to the broadcasting station, it took half an hour to get in. On Le Trung Dinh Street, Quang Ngai City, you have to go up to the 5th floor to get 3G, on the 1st floor you have to wait 10 minutes to get in. It's so frustrating” - reader Do Manh Tuan was upset. According to reader Nguyen Quan, “using 3G but the speed is 2G, slow as a turtle. Reading the newspaper, you have to wait a long time to get in”.

“Still complaining about losses and asking for price increases. They complain that 3G is a loss-making business, so they have to use profits from 2G to cover it up, and then they cannot invest in 4G as planned. If the network operators are still complaining about losses in 3G, why should they invest in 4G infrastructure? What services will they provide on 4G when 3G currently has other services besides Internet access?” - reader Vu Anh wrote.

According to TT-HL