An Internet cafe in Hanoi.

VietNamNet Bridge - Internet cafés started appearing around five years ago and have been booming in the past 2-3. But now, as the Internet has become popular in offices and homes, Internet cafes have suffered setbacks. 

Bac, the owner of an Internet café on Nguyen Hong Road, Hanoi sadly accepted that the golden time for Internet cafes had passed. Some of them have had to close while the remaining don’t invest more, just operate to recall investment. 

Bac invested around VND45 million in his Internet café on Nguyen Hong Road late last year with 15 used PCs. However, he started this business too late, at the time Internet cafes had begun to suffer setbacks. At present, Bac can earn just VND200,000 per day from this Internet café, which is just enough for maintaining the shop. But Bac still doesn’t dare to close it because he has not retrieved his investment yet. 

In Hanoi, only Internet cafes located near universities are operating busily. The others are very quiet. For example, just 1-2 Internet cafes on Ho Dac Di Road, which had tens of Internet cafes before, are still open today. Around A23-A25 of the Nghia Tan area, which had 7-8 Internet cafes previously, only one is running now. The situation is the same in other areas of Hanoi. 

The fall of public Internet services in Hanoi has just started since the city is the home for thousands of students, but it is very clear in other provinces, with the northern port city of Hai Phong as an example. The streets of Internet cafes like Lach Tray, Le Loi, Nguyen Van Linh are no longer bustling day and night as in the past because many shops have stopped operating. 

Nguyen The Hai, owner of an Internet café near the Hai Phong People-founded University in Du Hang Kenh Ward, Le Chan District, said that the golden age for Internet cafes had really passed. At that time, Le Chan District had around 150 Internet cafes, including 50 in Du Hang Kenh ward, but now most of them have closed down. 

According to Hai, with 20 PCs, he earns VND200,000 per day, which is sufficient for operations only. “I don’t have to hire shop or employees so I can earn VND200,000/day, otherwise I would have to close the shop,” Hai said. 

Also near the Hai Phong People-founded University, Hong, who has just closed an Internet café, said that though the volume of Internet users here is more stable than in other areas, Internet shops in this area just run in moderation.  

According to Hong, it is on the horns of a dilemma for Internet shops. If they close their shops, they will suffer heavy losses but if they continue, they can earn very small profit. In Hong’s case, he decided to close the shop and suffer losses. 

This situation is similar in other cities in Vietnam such as Vinh, Da Nang cities. 

While Internet cafes are quiet, online game shops are very crowded. However, investment in an online game shop is much higher than in an Internet café because PCs used for online games must have higher configurations.  

Most Internet cafes under-standard 

There are many reasons leading to the fall of Internet cafes, including outdated equipment, the expansion of Internet services in offices and homes. However, the major reason is that Internet cafes can’t meet conditions set by state management bodies. 

“The number of ADSL subscribers hasn’t declined and the need for Internet services is even on the rise but the number of public Internet agents falls because they can’t meet the newly issued regulations on Internet management,” said Nguyen Duc Dung, Deputy Director of the Hai Phong Post Office. 

Owners of Internet shops also said that it is very difficult for them to fulfill some regulations such as having books recording detailed information about Internet users, the guarantor for the users of less than 14 years old, installing Internet agent monitoring software. 

Pham Ngoc, an employee of an Internet shop in Hai Phong, said that the shop is unable to control all addresses and the contents that customers access. In addition, to prevent customers from unintentionally accessing websites with unhealthy content, he often has to delete IP addresses. However, by doing so, his shop can be accused of violating the rules on information archive by inspectors. 

Pham Van Hoan from the Hai Phong Post Office said that before the rules on Internet management, Circular 02, was issued, the post office had around 200 public Internet agents, which has dropped now. The Hai Phong post office has to abolish its contracts with Internet agents because those agents can’t meet conditions set in Circular 02. 

Nguyet Nga