VTC's telecommunications network establishment license has been revoked.

The Ministry of Information and Communications has just issued a decision to revoke the license to establish a network and provide telecommunications services of the Vietnam Multimedia Communications Corporation (VTC).

The image is for illustrative purposes only. (Source: VMS)

Accordingly, VTC's license No. 856/GP-BTTTT, issued on June 14, 2010, and valid until June 14, 2025, allows the company to establish a terrestrial mobile telecommunications network according to the IMT-2000 standard without a radio access system (also known as a virtual telecommunications network) and provide terrestrial mobile communication services, value-added services, and Internet services.

After a period of silence from VTC regarding the implementation, in July 2012, the Telecommunications Department requested a report from VTC. In December 2012, in official document No. 1379/VTC-VTS, VTC stated that it had worked with mobile telecommunications infrastructure providers such as Viettel, VinaPhone, MobiFone, Vietnammobile, EVNT, and partners such as Ericsson, Nokia Siemens, Huawei, ZTE, etc.

As of December 2012, VTC was negotiating with Viettel and stated that if a cooperation agreement could not be reached, it would return license 856/GP-BTTTT.

Regarding the reasons for the delay in issuing the license as stipulated, VTC stated at the time that in June 2011, the Prime Minister decided to merge EVNTelecom into Viettel, which stalled the implementation of the contents of the strategic cooperation agreement and the contract to purchase 30% of shares signed between VTC and EVN. VTC Corporation discussed with Viettel the possibility of continuing to maintain the virtual telecommunications network contract signed between VTC and EVNT. However, due to significant changes in the technical and business model of the old EVNT network, negotiations were very difficult.

Furthermore, 2012 was a year of restructuring for VTC Corporation, and due to the lack of approval for its business strategy and the reorganization of internal departments, the implementation of the virtual telecommunications network license faced many difficulties.

In May 2013, VTC again petitioned the Ministry of Information and Communications to allow it to continue maintaining its virtual telecommunications network license to facilitate negotiations with mobile network operators, and to consider allowing VTC to test a frequency-free mobile network model via Wi-Fi and 3G based on IP technology...

By the end of July, VTC continued to send a letter with an attached cooperation agreement with Global Telecommunications Corporation (GTEL). However, the Telecommunications Department determined that this agreement was not feasible because GTEL did not have a license to establish a network and provide IMT-2000 terrestrial mobile telecommunications services. Furthermore, GTEL's network was insufficient to meet its needs and was already using VinaPhone's network infrastructure to provide domestic roaming services.

According to the Telecommunications Authority, VTC has not invested, or has invested only a small amount, in virtual mobile network infrastructure. This is also a relatively new field in a market that has reached a fierce level of competition like the mobile telecommunications market, so it is advisable to halt investment to avoid dispersing resources and ensure the effectiveness of state investment.

Meanwhile, the Telecommunications Law stipulates that a business will have its license revoked if it "fails to actually implement the content specified in the granted telecommunications license within two years from the date of issuance."

For the reasons mentioned above, the Telecommunications Department recommended that the Ministry of Information and Communications revoke license 856/GP-BTTTT issued to VTC. The revocation decision was signed on August 20, 2013.

Prior to VTC, Indochina Telecommunications Joint Stock Company was also licensed by the Ministry of Information and Communications to establish a virtual mobile network in 2009. However, this company was unable to negotiate with Viettel regarding the shared use of radio access infrastructure to provide services. Therefore, this license was also revoked.

According to Vietnam+ - M.D