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​In Vietnam, Internet, TV services in apartments monopolized by certain providers

​In Vietnam, Internet, TV services in apartments monopolized by certain providers

Friday, July 20, 2018, 20:06 GMT+7

Many apartment owners in Vietnam’s big cities have no choice in their Internet and TV providers to use due to monopolies created by the buildings’ managers, despite government regulations against limiting service options.

Administrators in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have often publicized that apartment buildings are expected to offer their residents a choice of at least two Internet and TV service providers.

If the building is under construction or has already been completed, its managers have the responsibility to create the necessary conditions for network operators to repair and upgrade their services, allowing users to freely choose service providers.

Defying these regulations, many apartment buildings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City still offer only one provider for their residents.

Who likes a monopoly?

T.A., a resident of the Dong Mo Dai Kim social housing project in Hanoi’s Hoang Mai District, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that there is only one Internet provider offered in the project, despite an enormous population with different needs.

The only Internet provider, however, appears to be too busy enjoying no competition to put decent attention to its service quality, according to T.A.

T.A.’s internet plan forces her to wait ages to load simple websites in her complex. 

Meanwhile, those with the same plan are able to access websites in a blink of the eye in other places.

Tran Quoc Huy, head of management of Dong Mo Dai Kim, admitted that the board has been receiving complaints from residents about the Internet provider’s low quality and poor customer service.

The situation seems to be rampant throughout both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Cong Huy, a resident of the Celadon apartment complex in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Phu District, complained to Tuoi Tre that the Internet network at his place often leaves his family with a jerky connection during  “rush hours.”

“About 8:00 to 10:00 pm [every day], the network is so congested that I can barely use the Internet at all,” Huy said.

Residents at the complex often have to call the provider’s technical staff, only to be “asked to wait until the next morning technicians are working” and that the surge is caused by a lack of bandwith.

Representing the management board at Celadon apartment complex, Luong Xuan Thao confirmed the situation to Tuoi Tre.

The management boards at each apartment complex Tuoi Tre spoke to claimed they are in the process of adding new service providers.

Disadvantages for users

Apartment residents often have to terminate unfinished service agreements when they move to a new residence.

Even at apartment buildings where there has been more than one service provider, things aren’t any easier.

According to Nguyen Ngoc Duy, a resident at Bau Cat 2 apartment in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, he and his neighbors can only choose between copper cable services from VNPT and SCTV cable television service with Internet packages.

“Even if we want to upgrade to fiber optic cables, it’s impossible since the copper cable was installed inside the wall of the beginning,” said Duy.

Experts suggest that there should be stricter regulations which specify about the design and construction of telecommunications network infrastructure inside apartment buildings.

Investors should be required to design and construct their buildings in a way that allows space for at least two providers to install their networks, said Vu Quang Duc, Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association.

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Bao Anh / Tuoi Tre News

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