Viettel to acquire EVN Telecom next year

Military-run Viettel Telecom Group will take over its failing rival, EVN Telecom, next January 1 in what is Vietnam’s first acquisition in the telecom industry.The government has given a go-ahead for the acquisition, Saigon Tiep Thi Newspaper quoted an unnamed Viettel executive as saying.Accordingly, all assets belonging to EVN Telecom, a subsidiary of the power monopoly Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), including properties, network infrastructures, human resources, business partners, investment projects, as well as outstanding debts, will be taken over by Viettel.A Viettel representative said Viettel executives had promised to protect EVN Telecom’s customers and jobs, and fulfill all duties of the debt-stricken company.With the acquisition, EVN Telecom will manage to “transfer” as much as thousands of billions of dong in debt to Viettel, which is another state-run enterprise.The total debt of EVN Telecom since 2010 is around VND4 trillion ($192 million).Earlier Hanoi Telecom also sought the government approval to acquire the entire 3G frequency band, infrastructure, and optical cable system.But the proposal was rejected, and all technical infrastructures of EVN Telecom will be transferred to Viettel. Insiders have expressed concerns that the merger would create a monopoly in the telecom industry since Viettel holds the largest market share in the sector.EVN Telecom was the 6th biggest mobile service provider in Vietnam. After seven years of operation, the telecom was stuck with low subscribers and poor revenues and became a debtor to many companies including Viettel and Vietnam’s largest telecom operator VNPT.