Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), NEC Corporation (NEC), and PHS International Limited (PHS-I) have begun trial Personal Handyphone System (PHS) services in Vietnam in cooperation with Hanoi Posts and Telecommunications. The trial service began in Hanoi on December 17, 1996.
Prior to the start of the new service, NTT had been engaged in the introduction and promotion of PHS in Vietnam. Activities included a joint PHS technology seminar with the Japanese government and the introduction of PHS technology and equipment at a telecommunications exhibition.
Against this background, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications views PHS as a new technology with potential for the development of Vietnamese telecommunications. To evaluate PHS technology, the public corporation decided to implement a trial service with Hanoi Posts and Telecommunications, an affiliate of Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications and the main entity for the trial PHS implementation, in cooperation with NTT, NEC and PHS-I.
The trial PHS evaluation will be carried out over a six-month period from December 17, 1996 in Vietnam at each venue of the Department General of Posts and Telecommunications, a telecommunications supervision agency; Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications, a telecommunications operating body; and Hanoi Posts and Telecommunications.
NTT, in cooperation with Hanoi Posts and Telecommunications, will prepare the total plan for the PHS trial service, manage overall operations of the project and gather the data and results. Also, NEC will provide PHS-related equipment and conduct technological support for system operations. In addition PHS-I will test the capacity of PHS for Vietnam and provide service know-how to Hanoi Posts and Telecommunications.

Trial locations
18 Nguyen Du Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
( location of both the Department General of Posts and Telecommunications and Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications.)
75 Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
(location of Hanoi Posts and Telecommunications)

Trial period
Six months, from December 17, 1996

Trial size

Base stations:		40 units
Terminals:		100 units

Future plans
After the trial service has been analyzed, NTT, NEC and PHS-I will actively introduce PHS in Vietnam.

Telecommunications Environment in Vietnam
Country
Name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Size: 329,566km2 (0.9 the size of Japan)
population: About 72.5 million (0.58 times that of Japan [as of 1994])
Capital: Hanoi (population, about 2.1 million [as of 1994])

Telecommunications Agencies
Supervisory agency: Department General of Posts and Telecommunications (DGPT) - independent of the Ministry of Transport and Communications (as of 1991)

Operational Entities
Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT)
-independent of DGPT as an operating body
-handles domestic and international telecommunications business and the postal business
Hanoi Posts and Telecommunications (HNPT)
-governs Hanoi within VNPT
-handles telecommunications and postal business focusing on Hanoi

Telephone Subscriptions
General subscriber telephones
Number of subscriptions: about 750,000
Penetration rate (subscriptions per 100 residents): about 1% (December 1995); 6% nationwide and 20% in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (target for 2000)
Mobile communications
Number of cellular phone subscriptions: about 53,000 (to October 1996)