Power assured during dry season
Power supply will meet the anticipated surge in demand during the dry season this year, said Dang Huy Cuong, director of the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Viet Nam.
The Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group, which owns both the VinaPhone and MobiFone mobile phone networks, may be forced to sell its stakes in one of them or merge the two, following a recent government decree to foster competition in the industry.
The decree, to take effect on June 1, states that an institution or individual owning more than 20 percent of one telecom firm cannot hold more than a 20 percent stake in another.
VNPT owns 100 percent of both VinaPhone and MobiFone, and will have to choose between equitizing one of them and divesting at least an 80 percent stake or merge them into a single entity.
Analysts said it could be a major problem for VNPT managers since they recently began the process of equitizing MobiFone.
If they go ahead now, VNPT cannot own more than a 20 percent stake in it and this will have a serious impact on VNPT's financial health. MobiFone only accounts for 4 percent of VNPT's manpower but 50 percent of the group's profit.
Thus, they think VNPT will prefer to merge the two networks.
Before issuing the decree, the Ministry of Information and Communication held meetings with VNPT to discuss the likely scenario that will emerge.
The ministry said the decree is aimed at preventing monopoly and cartelization and foster competition.