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| EVN Telecom mulls 3G services |
| 25/Jun/2009 Intellasia | 24/Jun/2009 Dau Tu Page 8 |
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| 25 Jun, 2009 - 10:08:02 AM |
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A new strategic cooperation contract for the period of 10 years has been signed and some preparation steps have been taken to carry out the implementation of 3G services after the associate between Hanoi Telecom and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Group – the parent company of EVN Telecom received the business license of providing 3G services.
Following is the interview a reporter of Vietnam Investment Review Magazine had with Duong Quang Thanh, EVN's deputy general manager.
After being licensed to provide 3G services, how much do the investors have to pay some to get the official business license?
According to the signed agreement between EVN Telecom and Hanoi Telecom, each party has to pay the deposit and investment cost under the ratio of 50:50. The deposit payment will start from June 26. The associate of EVN Telecom and Hanoi Telecom will have to pay the deposit of 600 billion dong, or each party pays 300 billion dong. EVN Telecom has already managed the deposit.
Can you give details on the BTS construction process of EVN Telecom?
Each party shares responsibility for building BTS under the ratio of 50:50. Under the agreement, the total number of BTS to be built by EVN Telecom and Hanoi Telecom is 2,500 units in the first year and 5,000 units in the third year. Therefore, each party is responsible for building 1,250 BTS in the first year and 2,500 units in the third year. At present EVN has got 3,000 BTS providing 2G services. As the result, after being granted the 3G license, we will use the current, available infrastructure and install new equipment to set up 800 new stations to make sure that after nine months or at the end of Q1 of 2010, EVN Telecom can provide 3G services.
Hanoi Telecom has currently received support from foreign partners in providing mobile services. So as their partner in this associate, what does EVN Telecom hopes from Hanoi Telecom and their foreign partners?
Under the contract, the two parties will have opportunities to use infrastructure and the two parties will sit down to work out policies to bring benefits and avoid unnecessary competition. EVN Telecom is searching for outside partners to cooperate in business development; therefore our company has considered looking for Hanoi Telecom's foreign partners. EVN is working with some partners from Italy and the Philippines and financial organisations to work out the cooperation plan with EVN Telecom.
We know that EVN has worked out a capitalisation plan. What is the progress?
We have already finished the enterprise's value assessment process and submitted to Ministry of Industry and Trade.
However, due to some changes in the organisation, i.e. merging EVN Information Centre into EVN Telecom, we now have to revaluate. Recently, we have submitted a document to the ministry to suggest a time to carry out this process in Sep 2009.
Can you estimate the EVN Telecom's value at present?
In April 2008, we had EVN Telecom valued at about 8 trillion dong. From that time up to now, the value must be much higher.
Whether the unfinished work of assessing the enterprise's value cause obstacle in the negotiation with strategic foreign partners?
We have got the government's approval to sell 30 percent of the company's shares to foreign strategic partners. Of course, the selection process of strategic partners depends on the enterprise's approved value, because negotiation on price is mostly based on the enterprise's real value. Now we are working closely with the partners to provide accurate information they need. On the other hand, our company will soon determine the enterprise's value to submit to the ministry.
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