Viettel lifts Cambodian network coverage

Phnom Penh (VNA) - Viettel Cambodia , a subsidiary of Vietnam 's military-run
telecom service provider, Viettel, said it had completed the installation of 1,100
base transmission stations which would help to increase its mobile coverage.

The company, which launched a mobile phone network called Metfone in Cambodia
last month, also started providing a number of value added services for Metfone,
such as IMuzik, GPRS/EDGE and iShare.

Viettel Cambodia said it was the only operator in Cambodia that charged for
calls on a per-second basis, allowing up to 25 percent savings to customers compared
to per-minute charging.

The company, which participated in the ICT Telecommunications World Expo in
Cambodia , which ended on April 5, said it would increase the number of BTS to more
than 3,000 by the end of this year in a bid to cover the entire country.

Metfone has set up over 50 stores in Cambodia to market the service, a figure it
expects to double by year's end. Metfone has been able to sign up 500,000
subscribers during a three-month trial people.

Viettel last year ranked as the 83 rd among largest telecom companies in the world,
according to Informa PLC, with a total brand value of 536 million USD and earnings
last year of 33 trillion VND (1.8 billion USD) and a gross profit of 8 trillion VND.

The company, which recently introduced the Mobile Data service based in the EDGE
2.75G (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution), has also been ranked by the World
Communication Awards as one of the four leading telecoms in the developing
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