Under the plan, all the prepaid mobile subscribers will have to register to the service providers, otherwise, they will be rejected. Prior to that, the ministry planned to ask the prepaid subscribers to make registration right in the first quarter of the year, however, as stated by Mr Thang, the plan has been delayed.

Mr Thang said that the policy makers are considering thoroughly in order to ensure the benefits of the involved parties, clients, enterprises and governing ministries.

The frame plan on taking management over prepaid mobile subscribers proposed by the Ministry of Post and Telematics (MPT) has been approved by the Government, under which several prepaid subscribers will have to register their services and declare personal information. The registration is planned to be completed within 18-24 months.

Vietnam now has 20mil mobile subscribers, 80 of which are prepaid subscribers. According to Deputy Minister of MPT Tran Duc Lai, the number of mobile subscribers has been growing so fast that service providers cannot control them. Mr Lai said that the management over prepaid subscribers is being implemented in many other countries and this proves to have no impact on enterprises and customers.

However, in several countries like China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, where there are regulations on prepaid mobile subscribers management, tourists still can easily buy simcards at sales agents without having to show passports or declare personal information. In Europe, only France and Germany now keep management over prepaid subscribers.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Deputy Director General of Viettel, a mobile service provider, said that the management will slow down the growth rate of mobile subscribers, and it will make the management expenses higher.

(Source: VNE)