Starts rationing subscriptions
Vietnam has run into some rather odd problems with its
telecommunications grid, and the government is now imposing a
restriction on the number of subscriptions available to consumers.
Vietnam has around 87 million inhabitants, and 97 percent of them have
mobile phones, and if you add the land lines, you end up with a total
of 111 million numbers. Hence, the Information and Communications
Ministry is a bit worried that the country's existing numbering scheme
won't be able to cope with more users.
"Because the number of mobile phone numbers is limited, the
telecom resources must be put into effective use," it said in a
circular seen on Wednesday.
To make matters worse, a new telco called Beeline VN is about to launch
later this month. It will be Vietnam's seventh mobile phone service
provider, offering consumers seven times more choice in choosing a cell
plan than in choosing a political party.
More
here.