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Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

Mobile and broadband subscriptions in Vietnam are predicted to see steady growth from 2023 to 2030 delivering revenue increases for operators, on the back of wider economic growth in the country. 

This is according to analyst company Research and Markets, which stated mobile subscriptions will rise 1.1% and fixed broadband by 3.4% over the next seven years.

Revenues from mobile will thus increase as operators transition from 2G and 3G to 4G mobile data services. The Vietnamese mobile market saw a slowdown in 2018 and 219 due to pressure on legacy 2G voice and SMS revenue.

Capex from service providers is expected to remain “stable” until 2030 as spending on 5G has yet to be deployed as providers are focused on rollingl out fibre broadband. Major providers such as Viettel, Vinaphone and Mobifone are “aligning their investments with revenue growth, maintaining a consistent Capex to Sales Ratio.”

The mobile market saw a shift in 2020 when 3G and 4G subscribers surpassed 2G subscriptions for the first time. Operators then began shifting from prepaid voice and SMS services to data centric ones. 

Research and Markets predicted 5G will make up over half (66%) of subscriptions by 2030 equating to around 90 million subscribers. Meanwhile, 4G will account for 34% in this period and the shutdown of 2G is scheduled for 2025, followed by the switching off of 3G by 2026. 

Viettel, Vinaphone and Mobifone have around 90% of market share, and mergers between smaller players such as Gmobile, Hanoi Telecom, Saigon Post Tel, and SCTV could be announced in future. Government reduction in stakes in VNPT and Mobifone by up to 50% could also occur to bring in private investments and enhance market transparency. 

By Matt McConnell, CEO of Intradiem

The current incarnation of AI is the biggest tech breakthrough since the Internet. So far, we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. … [visit site to read more]

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC) have signed a memorandum of understanding  (MoU) to develop, launch, and operate an earth observation (EO) satellite for Mauritius.

The collaboration will span 15 months. It includes the training of MRIC engineers at ISRO’s facilities in India, where these engineers will work closely with ISRO experts to design and develop the satellite platform, as well as its associated systems and primary payload.

MRIC engineers will actively participate in various milestone reviews and assembly, integration and testing (AIT) activities. This will not only enhance their skills but also facilitate the in-orbit operations of the satellite once it is launched. MRIC’s ground station will be utilised for these operations, which will be jointly carried out by both agencies.

The payload for the satellite, a multispectral imager, can capture various frequency bands of light and, when processed using appropriate software, can provide valuable data for monitoring land and sea surfaces.

In addition to the development and operation of the satellite, ISRO and MRIC aim to register the EO satellite as a recognized space object with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) space object registry. They also plan to register the satellite’s frequencies with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

MRIC is a corporate body set up in September 2019. It advises the Mauritian government on matters concerning applied research, innovation, and research and development issues. 

ISRO is the space agency of India, involved in science, engineering and technology to harvest the benefits of outer space for India and mankind.

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MTN Nigeria’s often impressive profit margin is facing threats on two fronts as earnings are hit by a weak naira and a tax demand threatens to remove tens of millions of dollars from its balance sheet.

The deregulation of forex management in Nigeria in June 2023 led to a 68.5% increase in the exchange rate from N461/US$1 in December 2022 to N777US/$1 by the end of September, resulting in greater business costs, and hitting recently announced MTN Nigeria earnings for the nine months ending 30 September.

Although MTN Nigeria still seems to have delivered a strong commercial performance in the period under review, the significant movement in the exchange rate since the liberalisation of the forex market resulted in higher forex losses with a knock-on effect on net finance costs, up 174.4%. Due to this, profit before tax (PBT) declined by 42.0%. It would have risen slightly without the forex loss.

That, however, is not the only issue faced by MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecoms company. After facing a court order to pay US$72.6 million in overdue taxes, as we reported recently, it now plans to challenge that order.

The order was issued last week by Nigeria’s Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT) in Lagos. TAT says the amount is for unpaid taxes between 2007 and 2017, though it is lower than the amount originally requested before MTN Nigeria appealed.

Having reviewed this outcome and considered input from tax and legal consultants, MTN Nigeria says it has resolved to appeal the TAT’s decision.

However, we may have to wait to hear a precise strategy. Quoted in ITWeb Africa, Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria CEO, says: “The company will issue a separate and comprehensive statement articulating its position on the matter.”