Five local telecom companies have been allowed by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications to test the 4G wireless standard in Vietnam. The companies, including state-owned VNPT and military run Viettel, have been given one year to test the technology before they can apply for the license to provide the service, news website
VnExpress reported on Tuesday. 4G is the latest generation wireless technology that allows ultra-broadband Internet access and multimedia services.
State-run Coal and Mineral Industry Group has found an additional 50 million tons of copper ore at the Sin Quyen Mine in the northern province of Lao Cai, news website VietNamNet reported on Wednesday. The group said Sin Quyen is the largest copper mine in Southeast Asia with total reserves of 100 million tons. It plans to raise the annual output of its ore screening plant to three million tons from the current 1.2 million. (TN, BLOOMBERG)
Electricity of Vietnam has signed an agreement with Germany’s Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau to get a 120 million-euro (US$152 million) loan, Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported. The utility, known as EVN, plans to use the nine-year loan, which has a low interest rate, to upgrade the grid nationwide.
Vietnam’s Atomic Energy Institute signed an agreement with NWT Uranium Corp. of Canada to assess the country’s uranium potential. Vietnam is preparing to develop a nuclear power industry. The agreement between NWT and the Vietnamese institute calls for the former to analyze uranium ore in the country, including assessing the economic and technical feasibility of any reserves found, NWT said in a stock exchange statement released on Tuesday.
