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[Telecom] Good phoning, Vie^.t Nam
Cha`o ca? la`ng,
Dda^`u dde^` tre^n la^'y tu+` report du+o+'i dda^y cu?a Siemens ve^`
project cu?a ha~ng la('p dda(.t he^. tho^'ng GSM thu+' hai cho VN.
Post le^n dde^? la`ng xem.
Cheers,
Son,
------------------------
Good phoning, Vietnam
Soaring demand for mobile phones in Vietnam meant the country
needed a second network fast. In only three months, Siemens put the
VinaPhone GSM network in place. It will ultimately serve
up to 150000
subscribers.
by Oliver Stark
All over Vietnam, from the capital Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh
City (formerly Saigon), there is
evidence of a powerful economic upsurge. This economic
boom in the "Land of the
South" (that's what the word Vietnam means in Annamese)
has been accompanied by an
equally vigorous expansion of the nation's
telecommunications infrastructure.
The latest addition to this infrastructure is VinaPhone, a
mobile radio network based on
the GSM standard, which is now used in nearly 100
countries worldwide.The network
was set up in record time by Siemens as a turnkey project
with D900 digital technology.
Vietnam's robust economic development over the past five
years is clearly reflected in its
rapidly increasing telephone density. Out of Vietnam's
population of 74 million, there are
currently only roughly two telephones available per 100
inhabitants. But the government
has ambitious plans to change that. Between 1989 and 1993
telephone density doubled,
and in July 1996, the government announced plans to
increase telephone density sixfold
by the year 2000.
Vietnam's second mobile network
To increase telephone density as quickly and cheaply as
possible, Vietnamese Posts and
Telecommunications (VNPT) - the state-owned operating
company responsible for
setting up and developing the telecommunication system -
opted to expand the existing
fixed network on a mobile radio basis. VNPT subsidiary,
Vietnamese Mobile Services
(VMS), chose the GSM mobile radio standard to ensure that
outdated technology with
limited capacity wouldn't hinder this process.
This is already the second GSM mobile network to be
installed in Vietnam. The first,
called Mobiphone, went into operation in 1993. Created as
a joint venture between
VMS and Comvik Inter Viet Nam AB and Kinevik Corp.,
Mobiphone currently
provides mobile radio services to around 43000 subscribers
in 20 of Vietnam's 53
provinces.
But this first network alone cannot be expanded quickly
enough to meet soaring demand.
The Vinophone network is designed to help alleviate that
demand. In contrast to the
Mobiphone network, however, Vinaphone is 100 percent
Vietnamese, i.e. without any
financial or technological reliance on foreign investors
and operators - part of the
government's stategy to operate independently in the
communications sector. Another
important factor for VNPT was to establish an element of
supplier competition to the first
mobile radio network - certainly unusual in a socialist
country like Vietnam.
Siemens was selected to deliver VinaPhone as a turnkey
project because VNPT had
already been highly impressed by the company and its
products for many years in other
areas, such as its EWSD digital switching system and news
cable (see insert below).
VNPT chose Motorola for the radio switching system (RSS)
equipment. Siemens as
prime contractor supplied, installed, commissioned and
tested the equipment. Since the
GSM standard precisely defines the interfaces between
individual components of the
mobile radio system, components from different vendors can
be readily interconnected.
That made it easy for Siemens as turnkey supplier to also
integrate its own equipment into
the installation.
VinaPhone set up in record time
With the Vinaphone installation, Siemens confirmed its
reputation as a competent and
reliable partner with the ability to meet tight deadlines.
Starting in January 1996, the entire
network was put in place in three months, and was ready
for public launch by June.
This first leg of the network serves 18 Vietnamese
provinces and already has some 6000
subscribers. VNPT is initially focusing on the following
regions (see graphic):
Important commercial centers in the sprawling
metropolitan areas of Hanoi in the
north and Ho Chi Minh City on the southern coast;
Industrial areas in northern, southern and central
Vietnam (e.g. Vinh, Hue and Da
Nang);
Tourist regions along the 3700-kilometer coastline,
which as yet have only been
developed on a small scale.
With these criteria in mind, the new mobile radio network
was set up on the basis of the
Siemens D900 cellular digital mobile radio system, whose
technical setup for the first
project phase consists of a mobile switching center with a
visitor location register, home
location register and authentication center in Hanoi, as
well as a mobile switching
center/visitor location register installation in Ho Chi
Minh City.
In this initial phase, which ended in 1996, the network
was equipped with capacity to
serve some 35000 subscribers. In future phases - to be
completed before 2000 - another
five mobile switching centers and 2000 base stations are
planned which will serve about
150000 subscribers nationwide. An administration, billing,
and customer care center, and
expansion of voice mail service are also planned for the
central and southern regions of
Vietnam.
More than just telephony
Above all, customers value the wider variety and more
convenient applications of
VinaPhone over Vietnam's earlier network. In addition to
conventional tele-phony,
VinaPhone offers other attractive services:
A voice mail system whose functions include message
forwarding and fax handling.
A short message system (SMS) which allows brief
messages to be sent from
mobile phone to mobile phone or from operator to
mobile subscriber - a popular
application in Vietnam as paging systems have been
used there for many years.
Fax service, which enables a fax to be sent from
anywhere in Vietnam with the aid
of a notebook computer.
Call completion services which include call
forwarding, call barring, call hold and
call waiting.
The calling line identification presen-tation (CLIP)
feature, in which the caller's
telephone number appears on the mobile phone display,
as well as calling line
identification restriction (CLIR), which withholds
the display of the caller's number
on the remote party's phone.
Coverage even in remote hilly regions
Even at this early stage, with relatively few base
stations, Vinaphone's transmission quality
and performance already is competitive with that of the
Mobiphone network.
Efficient coverage is facilitated in Vietnam by the
building style - most houses are less than
five stories high - which minimizes interference. In
densely populated areas such as Hanoi,
Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, the radio network crew took
into account high rise
buidings which were in the planning or construction
stages, allowing them to avoid
expensive rearrangement of antenna sites for customers.
Mountainous and coastal regions presented the most serious
challenge to providing
consistent mobile radio coverage.
One such place is Ha-Long Bay, an area along the northern
Vietnamese coast, with a
striking hilly landscape and innumerable offshore islands.
As a popular tourist attraction, it
was important to have good coverage in this area. Siemens
found a cost effective solution
here, providing a major portion of the picturesque port
and its beaches with coverage
using only two base stations.
Market demand continues to soar
In addition to efficient radio coverage, falling prices
for mobile phones are also expected
to boost the market for mobile phones in Vietnam. Whereas
a few months ago the cost of
a mobile phone was the equivalent of around about $700 -
$900 dollars , the price has
since fallen to below $500. Connection and call charges
are following this trend.
Siemens in Vietnam
Soon after the economy in Vietnam was opened up to
foreign investment, Siemens
began playing a key role in setting up and developing
the country's
telecommunications infrastructure, introducing modern
technology, sound expertise
and reliable service with strong customer support and
comprehensive on-site training.
Apart from the VinaPhone GSM mobile radio network,
Siemens has undertaken
several other major projects in Vietnam.
The EWSD electronic digital switching system has become
market leader in the
Vietnamese telecommunications sector, accounting for
over 89 percent of the market.
It has 14 parent switches, supporting almost 400000
ports. The most important
orders were:
The first EWSD switch in Ho Chi Minh City, with
15000 line units (LU), in
December 1991;
Expansion of the Cholon switch in Ho Chi Minh City
by 14000 LUs, with
subsidiary projects in Hung Vuong (8000 LUs), Tan
Binh (6000 LUs) and Bin
Cham (500 LUs) in August 1992;
An additional five EWSD switches with a total of
96400 LUs for five
provinces in the Mekong Delta, delivered in several
project phases since
November 1992;
Three new EWSD switches with more than 50000 LUs,
as well as a local
transit exchange with over 6000 lines, in Ho Chi
Minh City in 1993;
60000 LUs and 4000 lines in March 1993, as well as
40000 LUs for
additional provinces in the Mekong Delta, in April
1993;
72000 LU amd 8600 lines in May 1995; and
40000 LU in 1995 for rural technology.
Over 80 employees work in two Siemens Project Offices,
with headquarters in Ho
Chi Minh City and the branch office in Hanoi. Siemens
takes care of planning,
installing, operating and maintaining the communications
facilities. Customer support is
also supplemented by thoroughly training customers in
the areas of switching,
transmission, fiber optic and mobile radio technologies.
(Oliver Stark worked as operations manager for the
Vinaphone network project. )