Viettel bucks trend, sharply hikes overseas investment
Viettel bucks trend, sharply hikes overseas investment
Military-owned telecom company Viettel Group's overseas investment increased by 9 per cent last year to nearly US$1.5 billion.
The figure is nearly four times the global industry rate of 2.3 per cent, according to UK-based OVUM, a research and consulting firm specialising in global coverage of the IT and telecom industries.
Last year Viettel launched operations in three big African markets with a combined population of 80 million, Cameroon, Burundi, and Tanzania.This took Viettel's international markets to 10 and they have a combined population of 270 million, three times that of Việt Nam's.
International telecom experts have hailed Viettel's strategy of quickly expanding market , a critical factor in achieving success in sectors like telecom and retail.
In its early stages in Viet Nam Viettel was successful with its vigorous investment and expansion strategy, which propelled it rapidly to the top of the market.
Its expanding research and development and use of IT will undeniably benefit from its large market .
Launches in three new markets within a year from late 2014 saw Viettel invest $230 million totally. A telecom project takes five to seven years to break even.
Last year profits from international operations fell below the company's expectations to VNĐ500 billion ($22.7 million) though profits from non-African markets were good -- VNĐ1.235 trillion ($56 million) from Asia and VNĐ213 billion ($9.6 million) from America.
Five years after it began operations in the American market the company moved from a loss of VNĐ87 billion ($3.9 million) to a profit of VNĐ213 billion.
Recently Viettel moved up 10 places to seventh among the 20 Most Valuable ASEAN Telecom Brands listed by the UK – based intangible asset valuation consultancy Brand Finance.
It moved up from seventh to third in the list of Best Performing Brands in ASEAN.
