The Government has signed Decision 888/QD-TTg approv-ing the restructuring plan of the Viet Nam Post and Telecom Group (VNPT) for the 2014-15 period.

The aims of the plan are to continue VNPT's development, focus on production and trading of telecom, information technology and multi-media products and services, improve the competitive ability and efficiency in production and business, and maintain a key role in the telecom industry of Viet Nam.

Bui Quoc Viet, director of VNPT Information and Public Relation Centre, spoke about these issues.

What is the schedule for implementing the restructuring of VNPT under the Decision 888/QD-TTg?

Bui Quoc Viet

VNPT actively started to restructure itself in recent years and will continue the process. For instance, VNPT transferred the ownership of Mobifone and the Institute of Posts and Telecommunications Technology to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) on July 10.

That means mobile network operator Mobifone was detached from the State-owned VNPT and placed under the management of the MIC.

VNPT would transfer the apparatus and staff of Mobifone and the institute to the MIC. The assets, debt and capital of Mobifone and the institute would be given to the MIC based on their financial reports in the first half of this year.

The handover is the first step of the VNPT's restructuring plan, as approved by the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, VNPT would complete the transfer of the Central Postal Office to the MIC by January 2015.

At present, VNPT has plans to re-organise its member telecommunications companies under one firm called VNPT-Vinaphone and to establish two new member firms, namely VNPT-Media, operating in multimedia services, and VNPT-Net, specialising in network infrastructure.

These plans would be submitted to the MIC and the Prime Minister in the third quarter of this year.

The group has worked with the MIC in drafting a decree on regulations of the group with a charter capital of VND72 trillion (US$3.3 billion). The decree is expected to be issued this month.

Additionally, VNPT has been planning to organise business activities to use two satellites, VINASAT 1 and VINASAT 2, efficiently to withdraw its capital from companies and re-organise the Postal Financial Company.

The VNPT would also restructure the group's business, work force and other member companies by the end of this year. The group has detached the business of its three member companies from the group's business and restructured the three companies, namely VNPT Da Nang, VNPT Tien Giang and VNPT Nghe An.

Together with the restructuring, VNPT must complete its tasks for this year as assigned by the Government.

How is the new restructuring strategy of the group different from the initial restructuring plan?

Surely, there are many different things. The group would withdraw all its capital from 63 companies in the non-core business sectors and focus on its core business of telecommunications and multi-media, which are strong fields with good infrastructure, network, a large number of customers and long-standing services.

The group would also transfer its general hospitals and nursing and rehabilitation hospitals in Ha Noi, Hai Phong and HCM City, and post and telecommunications and information technology secondary schools in Ha Nam, Tien Giang and Thai Nguyen provinces to the said cities and provinces.

It would also re-organise the companies and sections managing the telecom service business at present as the VNPT-VinaPhone company, to become an enterprise having independent finance instead of being dependent on VNPT, as at present.

All companies and sections having businesses in software, value-added services and media services would be re-organised as a media limited company, VNPT-Media.

All companies and sections managing telecom infrastructure and networks would restructure to become VNPT-Net, a net infrastructure limited company.

The FOCAL Optical Cable One-member Ltd Company and the Post and Telecom Technological and Industrial Joint Stock Company would be re-organised as subsidiaries of VNPT, with functions of researching, manufacturing, producing and trading postal, telecom and information technological equipment.

The group would apply further information management and encourage staff to work efficiently.

What are difficulties and advantages of equitisation at VNPT ?

The restructuring of VNPT and the separation of Mobifone and the institute from VNPT have posed some challenges for the group.

The separation of Mobifone from VNPT would bring direct difficulties in revenue as well as profits of VNPT.

However, Mobifone is a one-member limited company and has mostly independent operations with other members of the group. So its separation would not affect the group's operations. But the first and big effect of the separation would be reduction of the group's revenue.

What would the domestic telecom market be like after the separation of Mobifone and Vinaphone?

The two telecom companies would have independent operations, but the success of the two companies in future would need cooperation between them. We do not consider Mobifone as rivals but as partners in development. VNPT will continue cooperation with Mobifone as well as Viettel to use the advantages we have to develop the domestic telecom market.

Of course, Vinaphone would also continue cooperating with Mobifone as before.

How would the telecom infrastructure be shared by telecom service providers after the separation of Mobifone and VNPT?

VNPT would still share its telecom infrastructure with Mobifone as before. In the past, the use of the groups' infrastructure was based on assignment of tasks. But, in the future, after they become independent firms, there would be economic contracts between us about the use of the group's telecom infrastructure, keeping in mind the interests of the society and of Mobifone and Vinaphone. — VNS