Penetratỉng International Teỉecommunỉcatỉons Market

The Case of Vỉettel

Dinh Van TOAN

University of Economics and Bũsiness - Vietnam National University, Ha Noi
Email: dinhvantoan@vnu. edu. vn

Article history
Received on November 1, 2018.
Revised on December 20, 2018.
Accepted on December 26, 2018.

Abstract

This paper clarifies the hotly debated issues about the international market
penetration o f the Viettel Global Investment Joint Stock Company (Viettel
Global). Based on the review o f íheories on market penetration and the
company's data, this paper scrutìnìĩes the company's process o f selecting and
investing in the teỉecommunicaíions market during the period 2011-2017. This
paper draws a number o f important lessons fo r Vietnamese enterprises, namely:
building effìcient connections, rapidly realizing new and unique ideas on each
overseas market, and maintaining the determination, continuous effort and
perseverance against hardships.

Keywords: International Market penetration, Telecommunication, Enterprises,

Viettel Global.

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Introduction

Since 1986, Vietnamese enterprises have participated in international markets, mainly via
the dừect export channel. Hovvever, this is not the only way as enterprises can choose different
ways to reach intemational markets such as licensing, ữanchising, setting up joint ventures or
100-percent foreign-owned companies. Nevertheless, in order to penetrate international markets
successíully, it is important for enterprises to select appropriate methods for theừ business
objectives and strategies.

In Vietnam, there has been íierce competition among telecommunication enterprises

(TCEs). The telecommunications market has been dominated by large enterprises like Viettel,
Mobifone, VinaPhone and FPT. Therefore, in order to expand the market and increase proíĩts,
TCEs should seek investment opportunities abroad and search for markets that are potential for
íurther development.

A prime example for a Vietnamese company, expanding its business into international
markets is Viettel Global Investment Joint-stock Company (hereafter, Viettel Global) - a
member o f the Viettel Group. After 10 years of continuous investment, Vietteỉ Global was
ranked among the world’s top 100 of largest telecommunications brands as of December 2017.
Viettel is currently investing and running businesses in 10 íòreign markets, including Laos,
Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Cameroon, Haiti, Mozambique, Burundi, Peru, Tanzania and Myanmar.
As of June 2018, Viettel Global was generating proíits in 8 countries and being the leading
telecommunications provider in 5 countries. In Laos, Cambodia and Timor-Leste, Viettel Global
has recovered its initial investments and generated proíìts, which are four to íĩve times higher
than its investment values (Thanh Thu, 2018). These impressive achievements of Viettel Global
are worth to learn for not only enterprises in Vietnam but also in the region.

To date, studies on international market penetration íòcus mainly on international

marketing. Recent studies on internationalization concluded that telecommunication is crucial for
the integrated economy due to its systematic/network nature and technology-reliant speed of
transmission. Hovvever, not many studies have been published on intemational market
penetration in this industry, especially for developing countries. Combining theoretical studies
on internationalization, Krishna (2013) used a theoretical model càlled “network model” to
íurther examine the international market penetration of the TCEs in Malaysia. The author
shovved that in order to carry out successíul intemational market penetration, market selection is
the most critical íactor for an enterprise. The second factor relates to the íinancial resources for
physical inírastructure and marketing development. The third íactor relates to regulatory
compliance, and obtain licenses, spectrum or buy bandwidth from network operators on the
target market. Additionally, TCEs also need government support in terms of policies while doing
theừ international market penetration. Furthermore, the ability of leaders to overcome challenges

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as well as respond to the dynamic market landscape is critical to successíìilly penetrate

international markets.

The research by EYGM Limited (2015) showed that partnerships will play an ever more
important ro le in driving innovation in the telecommunications industry. Operators must consider
the best way to combine different network standards to support the Internet of Things (IoT).
Research by Transparency Market Research organization (2016) spotted the trend that TCEs
strive for improving theừ networks and oíĩering expanded services to their customers by
densifying network, developing fiber inữastructure, and enhancing spectrum efficiency. Based
on geographic criteria, this organization suggested that the global telecommunications market
can be segmented into Asia Paciíic, North America, Europe and the rest o f the world.

In line with the theories of intemational market penetration analyzed by Krishna (2003),
the studies by Vietnamese authors such as Nguyen Dong Phong et ai. (2007), Tran Minh Dao
and Vu Tri Dzung (2010) agreed that the content of international market penetration is based on
corporate decisions such as the company's goals in the international market, selecting the
appropriate target market (market segmentation) to penetrate, analyzing the competitiveness o f
nations and sectors, selecting the appropriate method(s) of penetration and strategic planning
marketing mix, and implementing and monitoring the market penetration process.

Based on the revievv of existing studies on market penetration and the practices of Viettel
Global, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis o f the company’s activities in international
market penetration. The contents analyzed in this paper focus on the major stages o f the market
penetration process, namely, selecting the target market, choosing the market penetration
strategy, planning the marketing policies to make services and customers closer and
implementing the strategy.

This paper aims to present practical insights on Viettel Global’s experiences and its
achievements in penetrating the intemational market during the period o f 2011-2017. Afterward,
this paper draws policy lessons leamed for Vietnamese enterprises that wish to go global
eíĩiciently. This paper is organized as follows. Section 1 reviews key conceptual issues of market
penetration for telecommunication enterprises. Section 2 analyzes the experience of Viettel
Global in penetration o f intemational telecommunications market. Finally, Section 3 draws some
lessons learned from Viettel Global for Vietnamese telecommunications enterprises.

1. Key conceptual issues of market penetration for telecommunicatỉon enterprises

With the deepening globalization trend, TCEs, operating in the domestic market may find
it diffĩcult to extend theừ market share due to a limited number o f consumers and an increasing
number of domestic and íòreign competitors. As such, entering íòreign markets is a decisive
solution for TCEs to overcome the limitations of domestic market by enabling them to find new

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customers, and enhance competitiveness to meet the market demands. Successful penetration
allovvs TCE s to prolong the life cycles of theừ services, particularly services that are in mature
stages in the domestic market may be able to start new life cycles in the foreign markets.
Penetration into new markets also helps enterprises take advantages of theừ system capacity,
experiences, technologies and deploy their businesses on a larger scale, thus, reducing product
cost per unit. In addition, it allows TCEs to take advantages of incentives from theừ foreign
markets and lessen competition pressure, thus, mitigating theừ business risks.

Generally, for an enterprise, the strategy of penetrating into intemational markets can be
considered a set of íìindamental long-term business perspectives and objectives that can orientate
husiness activities, including the means and the marketing strategies to achieve the enterprise’s
objectives in products and services. Telecom international market penetration is activities,
targeting to extend the market share of telecom Products and services by investment, marketing
policies and implementation o f strategic solutions. Penetrating into a íòreign market can be
considered a marketing program for the Products and services. For a TCE, selecting the target
market for inírastructure investment and a method for market penetrating activities is essential.
Decisions on investment and penetrating methods/tactics depend largely on the factors relating to
the target market, the competitors and the capacity of the company itself. Thereíbre, before
entering a íoreign market, an enterprise needs to make important decisions of selecting the
appropriate target market, selecting the market penetration strategies, planning and implementing
marketing policies to bring its Products and services to íòreign customers (see Figure 1).

Pigure 1: Decisions of a telecom company for market penetration

Analyzing the business environment in the target market

The target Analyzing the resources o f the enterprise
markèt Selecting the market and the target group o f customers

Licensing
M arket
Franchising
penetration Joint venture
strategies Direct investment
Product policies
Price policies
Distribution policies
Trade promotion policies
Developing the marketing resources

Source: Compiled by the author.

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• Selecting the target market

The TCEs need to have an overvievv o f the global market in the telecom sector to narrovv
down the foreign markets that they are interested in and able to peneưate. After that, they must
conduct research and detailed analysis to compare the opportunities and challenges of each
foreign market, including, but not limited to, business environment and competitive advantages.
Based also on the analysis o f available resources, TCEs will decide which ones are the most
suitable (target market).

When analyzừig the business envừonment in target markets, the economic envừonment,
cultural environment, human factor and natural conditions are extremely important. The
economic environment reveals the degree o f competitiveness and determines the attractiveness
of the market. Factors in the economic envừonment o f a country where business is oữen
concemed about are economic growth, living standards, population structure and social
hierarchy. The culture and human íactors are constituted of different elements: culture, religion,
beliefs, spữitual life and the attitude o f the people towards themselves, others and the
community. They detemiine consumer behavior, which is related to the habits and tastes o f
consumers o f telecommunications services on the market. In a study o f the eíĩect o f psychic
distance (factors such as cultural, language and business differences) on consumer behavior,
Arenius (2005) found that the psychic distance has become less signiíicant to newly technology-
based enterprises in selecting a íbreign market but remains important to others. Therefore, in
order to build an appropriate and íeasible market penetration strategy, an enterprise needs a deep
understanding o f the cultural íactors and consumer behavior by age, occupation and residential
areas. The cuỉtural envừonment determines the success o f the business in a íòreign market and
dữectly affects the marketing policies o f the company. The cultural similarities between
domestic and íòreign markets will enable the company’s Products and services to be consumed
without signiíicant changes. Social and demographic environment include population figures,
population density and population structure classified by sex, age, rate o f telecommunications
services usage, family size and so on. The changes in these Êictors will aíĩect the demand for
services. Consequently, it will determine the size o f the market, which is a very important factor
in telecom investment research. The natural environment includes elements such as natural
resources, land and terrain. It is the system of natural factors that affect many aspects of input
resources needed for production, business and the consumption o f output o f an enterprise. The
deployment of good telecommunications inữastructure depends heavily on natural conditions.
Thereíòre, enterprises cannot ignore the eíĩects of natural factor.

• Choosing the market penetration method(s) and strategies

It is ừnportant for TCEs to choose the best method(s) to enter the selected market, based
on their determination o f the entừe intemational marketing program. The method(s) to enter the
chosen market must also be consistent vvith the company’s overall strategy, objectives and

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đuration of each objective. An optimal option is to harmonize costs, risks and the control factor.
Dừect entry (such as through a branch or subsidiary), although associated with high start-up
costs, has full control over marketing activities such as promotions and sales. Indừect entry poses
í low risk but the company cannot set the price of Products dừectly to consumers or provide
£fter-sales services to customers.

The method(s) o f entry vvill be based on the above-analyzed factors. In reality, the main
ưiethods that are often used by enterprises are licensing, ữanchising, joint ventures and direct
investment.

Licensing is a form o f intellectual property licensing agreement (also known as

intellectual property license) for the production and marketing o f Products in íòreign markets.
Ưsually, the subjects o f the license agreement are patent, copyrights, trademarks, technological
processes and know-hows (Tran Minh Dao and Vu Tri Dzung, 2010). Regarding this approach,
new enterprises may have the opportunity to quickly access íòreign markets and minimize risks
by saving theừ time and Capital investment. As a result, small- and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) can easily adopt this strategy to expand their international businesses and maintain their
sales and profit targets. Enterprises vvhich are high-technologies and knowledge based can use
licensing agreements and, in retum, eam investment to promote the dissemination of new
products and technologies on íbreign markets. However, there are some disadvantages to this
method. New enterprises do not have the right to control the licenses or the ways o f doing
businesses o f theừ partners. In addition, when using the form o f license transferring, providers
must share the know-how with íòreigners. For enterprises who decide to take licenses, they have
to calculate theừ own business scalability. Therefore, there is a need for a broader selection of
methods to enter the íòreign markets. One of the options is establishment o f a joint venture with
the license.

Franchising is a form o f special license transfer, in which the company sells “limited
rights” over its brand name to the buyer for a lump-sum payment and beneíĩt sharing. However,
unlike selling a license, the ữanchisee must agree to abide the strict rules of business conduct.
Thus, the advantages are similar to those of licensing. In addition, the ữanchisor does not have to
bear with the costs and risks o f penetrating into a íòreign market. However, íranchising requừes
the ửanchisee to strictly control the quality o f its Products and services in accordance with the
principles and regulations of the ữanchising agreement. Selling Ễranchises can undermine the
company’s ability to coordinate global strategy because franchisee often does not pay enough
attention to the quality o f services they provide. To overcome this problem, the ữanchisor can set
up subsidiaries in each target market or area.

Joint venture with one or more íoreign partners might be considered a faster and more
expensive form of obtaining a license when entering a íòreign market. Joint venture is a co-
operation with local and íòreign Capital contributors for the purpose o f building a locally-and
jointly-owned and managed telecom company. Foreign investors can purchase a portion of a

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license-owned company or a license-owned company can purchase a portion of a foreign

company, or both parties can contribute to the establishment o f a new joint venture enterprise.
This option allows risk sharing among partners and enhances the ability to connect workflows
together. However, when choosing this method, the license-owned company needs to have a
deep understanding o f the target market, the potential o f the joint venture, the local distribution
system, and availability o f the workforce. The partners may havé disagreements about basic
Capital, marketing, and other operating principles. The difference in the total cost by each party
makes the parties realize that the proíits are not commensurate with the costs and the risks
incurred when establishing and putting the joint venture into operation. In addition, they will
have little control over theừ partners. Same as licensing, a joint venture partner can become a
potential competitor. In general, joint ventures are now widely used globally as they allow
enterprises to exploit theừ distribution netvvorks, combine Capital and technoỉogical strengths,
develop new Products and penetrate new markets easier and with less risk.

Dữect investment is One o f the most widely used forms to enter a íòreign market when an
enterprise ovvns 100% o f the investment Capital through the establishment or acquisition of
subsidiary companies. Since a TCE has sufficient resources and experience in international trade
and the volume o f its goods or services exporting to íòreign markets are large enough, this
method is the most applicable. The investor, in this case, has some advantages similar to those of
joint venture, such as enhancing market access and avoiding tariíT barriers and quotas. The
establishment of subsidiary companies vvill minimize the risk o f losing control and stealing
technology. In addition, it allows the company to tightly control over its activities in different
markets, thus, it isable to enhance global coordination, economy o f scale, positional advantages,
experience, and sustain the company’s competitiveness on different markets. Compared to
licensing and joint venture, dữect investment strategy helps an enterprise to expand its market
faster, better control its business expansion and gain higher proíĩtability. However, it is one of
the costliest methods to enter íòreign markets as the parent company has to bear with the íull
costs and risks of establishing overseas subsidiaries.

Selecting an appropriate market penetration method in telecommunications depends on

extemal factors (culture, politics, laws, economy, market size and so on) and intemal factors
(cost of production, cost o f transportation, know-how, management, international experience and
so on) of an enterprise. Accordingly, experienced and capable telecom enterprises usually choose
to invest dừectly by establishing theữ subsidiaries or creating joint ventures vvith local
enterprises.

• Planning marketing policies to bring products/services on sales

The goal o f marketing policies is to ensure that the company is able to penetrate the target
market, sell products/services, earn proíĩts and gain competitive advantages. In order to reach

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that goal, marketing mix, also known as 4Ps - Product, Price, Promotion and Place is the most
important tool that needs to be deployed (Kotler, 2002; Nguyen Dong Phong eí a i, 2007).

Product policy. There are three basic product adaptation strategies, which should be
considered for íòreign markets, namely maintenance of the original product, adaptation by
changes and the creation o f a new product. Fừst, maintenance of the original product means that
the company provides telecom services to íòreign markets exactly as what it does in the domestic
market. Second, adaptation by changes means that company can change its products/services to
adapt to the conditions or preferences o f new markets. Finally, an enterprise can also create new
products/services for the target market to increase market share, sales and profits. New
products/services may be new to the company but not new to the target market and vice versa or
may be new to both the company and the target market.

Price policy: Price is the most sensitive because it determines vvhether a product/service
is accepted by customers, and how many or how a product/service is consumed. In other words,
price policy dừectly affects the sales and proíit of a company. Thus, an enterprise should have
appropriate pricing policies suitable for each market and its own condition.

Promotion policy: Promotion is alỉ the communication methods used to provide product
iníòrmation to different parties. It aims at oíĩering and establishing relationships with partners
and potential customers, and enhancing the competitiveness and brand of an enterprise.
Thereíore. promotion activities, including as advertising, public relations, sales organization and
sales promotion are especially important for an enterprise when penetrating into íòreign markets.

Place (distribution policy): Distribution is not limited to setting the dữection, objectives,
and preconditions of cừculation, but also includes changing the time, space and procedures to
bring consumers the telecom Products and services. Distribution involves many tasks, from
planning and controlling the product flows through distribution channels to carry the Products to
reach and rationally exploit the needs o f the market. Depending on the penetrating market, its
business capacity, goals for market share or profitability and the characteristics of the product,
the company can choose appropriate distribution strategies. It can be monopoly distribution,
selective distribution or strong distribution netvvorks.

In order to implement marketing policies and bring telecom services to customers,

deploying marketing mix is required. Thus, telecom enterprises have to develop the marketing
iníòrmation system ụ .e . peopỉe, equipment and procedures for collecting, analyzing, evaluating
and distributing timely accurate information to decision makers), marketing budget (i.e.
identifying the source o f funding needed for the penetration based on the type and objectives o f
the business) and marketing resources ụ.e. human resources and technical resources to ensure the
necessary conditions for implementation).

• Implementation and monitoríng

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Regarding foreign market penetration, researchers, managers and consultants are vừtually
unanimous on the importance o f speed as a competitive advantage and a requừement to achieve
more rapidly a strategic decision-making of an enterprise (Robertson, 1993). Entering
international markets is accompanied by risks and challenges posed by the markets as well as the
naturaỉ, social, and cultural envừonment (extemal envừonment). Thus, the speed helps an
enterprise reduce risks while penetrating into foreign markets, and creating advantages o f market
share and customer base.

Robertson (1993) also agreed that “rapid sales acceleration is especially needed in
technology-based Products” and “speed is a management imperative, especially in the domain o f
new Products”. He suggested that íirms can reduce the duration of market penetration cycle
following these guidelines: (1) Reach the market fírst; (2) Pre-announce the new product before
the market availability; (3) Innovate constantly; (4) Occupy the market; and (5) Track market
penetration by stages o f the purchase decision process.

In line with Robertson (1993), the research by Arenius (2005) concluded that the psychic
distance has become less signiíìcant in respect of íòreign market selection by technology-based
new íĩrms, but retains its signifícant negative effect on the speed of market penetration (speed
means how fast the technology-based new ventures establish themselves on the íòreign markets,
1.e. identiíy partners and customers and eventually obtains sales income). Technology-based new
ventures with social Capital can penetrate into foreign markets at a higher speed than those
vvithout social Capital because social Capital alleviates the liabilities o f newness and íoreignness
that enable these íirms to overcome the psychic distance.

Therefore, it can be concluded that successíìỉl market penetration requữes “wisdom”, or

“tticks” from enterprises. Being quick at selecting and approaching the market is not enough,
another important consideration is to reduce the time needed to penetrate the market and bring
the products and services on sales. Hovvever, the long-term supremacy of the Products depenđs
on constant and unremitting innovation of the company. On the other hand, successíul new
Products are an invitation to market entry for other competitors. As product life cycles become
shorter and the speed o f imitation increases, continuous innovation is the only sustainable
strategy for success.

2. International market penetration of Viettel Global

Viettel Global was established as a merger of intemational investment departments with

98% of the Capital investment coming from the Viettel Group. As a subsidiary company in
charge of foreign investment and businesses, Viettel Global follows the core values and business
philosophy o f the Viettel Group as a pioneer in applying modem and innovative technology to
create new Products and services of high quality at reasonable prices, meet the demand, ensure
the right to choose of customers, and always care for and listen to customers for better
improvement of Products and services. In 2006, Viettel Global started 2 investment projects in

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 Penetrating International Telecommunications Market DP. 32-52

Laos and Cambodia. After over 10 years, this number has increased at 10 investment prọịects in
diíĩerent regions including South East Asia (Laos, Cambodia, Timor-Leste and Myanmar), Latin
America (Haiti), South America (Peru) and Aírica (Cameroon, Tanzania, Burundi and
Mozambique).

By the end o f 2017, nearly 40 million customers from intemational markets used
Viettel’s mobile services, broadband Internet, landlines and wừeless phones. As mentioned
earlier, as of June 2018, Viettel attained proíit in 8 markets, of which 3 markets including Laos,
Cambodia and Timor-Leste has returned the initial Capital investments. To date, Viettel Global is
generating proílts o f four-to-five times higher than the initial investments in these three markets
(Thanh Thu, 2018). Encouragingly, Viettel was the top telecommunications provider in terms o f
market share in íỉve countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Timor-Leste, Mozambique and
Burundi (Viettel Global, 2017).

Viettel GlobaPs revenue from telecommunication services on íòreign markets has grown
rapidly and continuously. The annual growth rate was 21.5% in 2016, which was more than
double that of 2015, and increased by 2.5% at 24% in 2017 (Viettel Global, 2017). The number
o f customers in íòreign markets was 13% in 2017, which was four times higher than that of the
global average (about 3%). New African markets continue to see strong grovvth rates at 1,343%
for Viettel Tanzania, 43% for Viettel Cameroon 43% and 42% for Viettel Burundi (Minh Anh,
2018). In Myanmar - the newly-penetrated market, Mytel (also known as Telecom International
Myanmar Co) had more than 2 million subscribers just in over a month after the oíĩicial launch
on June 9, 2018, surpassing Viettel Global’s target of 2 to 3 million subscribers in the vvhole
2018 (Tu An, 2018), contributing to Viettel’s business achievements on íòreign markets.

According to VNDIRECT (2018), after more than 10 years of operation, Viettel GlobaPs
charter Capital increased from VND 960 billion to VND 22,400 billion with a revenue of more
than 500 times higher. Its proíĩt increased by more than 300 times and the owner’s equity
increased by 45 times. The return on equity (ROE) reached 7% vvhile the market size expanded
to 210 million people (2.2 times of Vietnam’s population). In 2017, Viettel Global’s total
Consolidated revenue growth rate was 24%. To date, Viettel is in the world’s top 15 TCEs by
number of subscription and the world’s top 40 TCEs by revenue (Thanh Mai, 2018).

From 2009 to 2015, Viettel was honored four times at the World Communications Award
for the “Best telecommunication services provider in the developing countries’ markets” for its
overseas brands such as Metíòne (Cambodia), Unitel (Laos) and Telemor (Timor-Leste). This is
the most prominent international event in the world’s telecommunications industry, organized
annually by Terrapin Communications (Australia) since 1999 to recognize companies that have
made the best use o f the íeatures of developing countries’ markets to achieve business success
and contribute to the development of the telecommunications market.

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• Selecting target markets and target groups of customer

Prior to the decision to invest in and penetrate into the international market, Viettel
Global had conducted intensive research on the potential and development of telecommunication
market in different regions o f the world. The data compiled in 2015 on mobile-broadband
telecom services, one o f Viettel Global’s strengths, showed that there were over 7 billion mobile
cellular subscriptions worldwide, up from less than one billion in 2000 (ITU, 2015).
Correspondingly, the annual growth rate was over 14%. Also as of 2015, the number of mobile
cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants vvorldvvide was 46.1 while that of developed countries
was 81.3. Whereas, these figures for the Asia-Pacific region and Aírica were only 42.3 and 17.4,
respectively (ITU, 2015).

According to Viettel Global (2015), the number of mobile subscriptions in the world
between 2015 and 2019 is íòrecasted to increase by 1.3 billion (from 7.2 billion by the end of
2015 to 8.5 billion by the end o f 2019), equivalent to an annual growth rate of 4.2%. In this
period, the 20 fastest-growing markets are predicted to be emerging markets in Aữica and the
Central and South Asia. With the highest grovvth rate of 7.4% annually, Africa is considered a
high potential market (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Forecasted annual growth rates of mobile subscriptỉons in the

world and by region, 20 ỉ 5-20 ỉ 9

Source: Viettel Global (2015).

The íirst factor that Viettel Global considered when selecting a target country was the
potential o f telecommunication Service business and its political, cultural and social
environment. They can have different impacts on the telecommunication market development.

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Subsequently, the competitive envừonment, potential competitors, threats ÍT o m substitute

Products or pressures from customers and suppliers and so on were weighed up. In addition, the
natural environment factor that has an impact on input, output and the speed of implementation
was also taken into account.

In South Asia, Laos, Cambodia, Timor-Leste and Myanmar are the markets vvith high
potential and low barrier to entry. In addition to the advantage of similarities in the cultural,
social and natural environment, the density of mobile cellular subscriptions of these countries is
low compared to the regional average and those of the Philippines and Vietnam. More
importantly, the annual growth rates of subscriptions in these countries were very high (see
Table 1).

Table 1: Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

Average annual
Country 2005 2010 2015 growth rate
(% )

ASEAN

Cambodia 8.0 57.0 134.4 32.6

Laos 11.4 64.1 55.9 17.2

Timor-Leste 3.2 42.6 110.9 42.6

Myanmar 0.3 1.2 78.2 74.4

Vietnam 11.4 126.1 128.6 27.4

Philippines 40.3 88.7 115.8 11.1

AFRICA

Cameroon 12.9 43.2 79.5 19.9

Burundi 2.1 19.1 49 37.0

Mozambique 7.2 29.9 71.9 25.9

Tanzania 7.5 45.5 73.6 25.7

Source: ITU (2017).

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• Market penetration and investment strategies

In early 2018, Viettel Global established 10 subsidiaries and joint ventures in 10 íòreign
markets, o f which 4 subsidiaries and branches were dừectly invested by Viettel Global. The
others were joint ventures betvveen Viettel Global (holding more than 40% o f charter Capital) and
major local enterprises.

Table 2: Viettel GlobaPs subsidiaries, their brands and methods of investment in 10 countries

Country Enterprise Brand M ethod of investment

Cambodia Viettel (Cambodia) Pte., Ltd Metíòne Dừect investment

Laos Star Telecom Co., Ltd Unitel Joint venture

Viettel Timor Leste Dừect investment into

Timor-Leste Telemor
Unipessoal Lda. Viettel branch
Telecom International Joint venture (49%
Myanmar Mytel
Myanmar Co Capital)

Cameroon Viettel Cameroun S.A Nexttel Joint venture

Burundi Viettel Burundi S.A. Lumitel Dừect investment

Tanzania Viettel Tanzania Ltd. Halotel Joint venture

Mozambique Movitel, SA Movitel Joint venture

Peru Viettel Peru SAC Bitel Dừect investment

Haiti Natcom SA Natcom Joint venture

Source: Viettel Global (2018).

After selecting the markets, Viettel Global’s strategy was to focus on large-scale
investment and remote areas to take over the empty market and encửcle the urban areas from the
rural areas. In reality, mạịor intemational TCEs have penetrated and occupied the urban markets.
By employing these strategies, Viettel Global was able to rapidly attain a sizable market share
despite the presence o f mạịor competitors. Especially, Viettel Global’s strategy to invest in the
technology and inữastructure before running its business was applied in every country. This is
due to the fact that telecommunication business is based on inírastructure, and the services rely
on the quality o f infrastructure.

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 Penetrating International Telecommunications M arket... pp. 32-52 Ị Ị I Ị M Ị

For each market, Viettel had different strategic decisions for investment and penetration.
For instance, in Cambodia, Viettel Global chose direct investment through a subsidiary, namely,
Viettel Cambodia Ltd. Hovvever, the density of mobile subscription was already 20% (compared
to Vietnam’s 5% share when Viettel started deploying telecommunication services), thus, the
market potential is not high enough. As a result, Viettel decided to em ploy a Creative and unique
penetration strategy to take over this market by investing in a íìber-optic transmission netvvork
covering every City and district o f Cambodia. As a result, Viettel’s transmission network is
currently considered the best o f its kind in this country.

In Laos, Viettel Global chose a different approach. It established a joint venture with
Laos Asia Telecom Company, namely, Star Telecom with a telecommunication brand called
Unitel, o f vvhich Viettel Global contributed 49% of C apital investment in the form of equipment.
With the goal of deploying the network quickly in just over a year, Star Telecom had built 3,500
km of fiber-optic transmission netv/ork for 17 cities all over the country, which is joined by
Viettel Vietnam and Viettel Cambodia to form a Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Central transmission
route. As of July 2012, Star Telecom íĩnished the largest fiber-optic transmission netvvork of
17,000 km and 2,500 transmitters to cover all districts and used by 95% of Laos population
(Nguyen Minh Phuong and Le Nhu Quynh, 2013). It vvas a similar strategy of investing in high-
quality and systemized technological inửastructure as in Cambodia to provide the best services
for local residents by making telecommunication services more accessible. Viettel Global also
invested directly in Viettel Timor-Lester under another brand name, namely, Telemor.

The Peruvian market is different. The economic environment and telecommunication

market in Peru are more developed than those of Vietnam. Nevertheless, the remote rural areas
are still excluded from the telecommunication network. Viettel Peru (Bitel brand) with 100%
Capital investment írom Viettel Global was licensed by the Peruvian government to conduct
business in telecommunication sector by committing to provide free Internet for schools in fòr
the areas where no local enterprise want to invest in inírastructure. In Haiti, Viettel became the
fưst enterprise to be a “partner” o f the Haitian govemment. Witnessed by the Prime Ministers o f
the Vietnamese and Haitian governments, Viettel Global signed a memorandum o f
understanding with Teleco, a Haitian telecommunication company as its strategic investment
partner, to establish Natcom Network in Haiti. Together with restorừig the landline telephone
netvvork after an earthquake, Natcom invested in a telecommunication cable inírastructure that
had never been built in Haiti previously. Thanks to Natcom’s high-quality fíber-optic network,
the quality o f telecommunication services in this country was improved drastically.

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 pp. 32-52 Penetrating International Telecommunications M arket...

• Developing and implementing marketing strategies

Product and distributiort policy:

Apart from pre-launch Communications about the Products and services, new product
policy incorporating with a wide range o f services and ease o f use for residents in areas with
limited access to services was deployed by Viettel at the fastest pace ever seen in all o f its
íòreign markets. In Timor-Leste, Telemor (also known as Viettel Timor Leste Unipessoal Lda.)
oíĩered a variety of Service packages for each customer group, especially the 3G services. After
nearly a year, the number o f customers had been doubled.

In Peru, Bitel was the fưst nationwide 3G mobile network provider and was the only 3G
mobile network in 2014. Thanks to attractive promotion programs and a variety of products and
services accompanied with the Bitel SIM cards such as Online TV, Online music and accessing to
Internet at a high-speed connection, the number o f BitePs telecom Service users increased
rapidly. In this country, mobile Internet products were the new íuture of telecommunications
when Bitel (also known as Viettel Peru SAC) entered the market. To meet the booming demand
in Peru and also in Tanzania, Bitel and Halotel (also knovvn as Viettel Tanzania Ltd.) oíĩered
many other value-added services such as Online TV, Online music, video calls and so on. As a
result, people were buying Bitel and Halotel SIM cards in these two countries immediately right
aíter theữ arrivals. HalotePs grovvth was recognized by the International Business Awards
(Stevie Awards 2017) for the Fastest Growing Enterprise in the Middle East and Africa in 2017
(Sang Smith, 2018).

Regarding the Myanmar market, Mytel íòcused on the data segment and new digital
services such as mobile phones, landline phones, value-added services, digital content, e-wallet,
and other IT solutions. At the time o f launching, Mytel was the only mobile netvvork in Myanmar
that provided 4G services across this country for video calling on a 4G platíòrm o f high-speed
and consistent quality. In 2015, Metíone (also knovvn as Viettel (Cambodia) Pte., Ltd) in
Cambodia also became the fưst to launch eMoney, an e-wallet Service.

In terms o f distribution policy, Viettel Global under the brand name Unitel had chosen
the door-to-door approach by sending its employees to each village in remote areas to do
marketing dừectly. This strategy was tailored due to the fact that Laos is a country with a
scattered population, where 10,000 villages and 3 ethnic groups live mainly in mountainous
areas. Unitel, therefore, established hundreds o f vendors nationwide and bought hundreds of
motorcycles equipped with speakers for salesman communicate with costumers in the local
languages and cultures. With this approach, Unitel could go into remote areas with a sparse
population to reach the target customers. By 2013, Unitel had a distribution netvvork o f 143

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 Penetrating International Telecommunications M arket... DD. 32-52

stores, 15,000 vendors and thousands of sales staff across this country. As a result, Unitel
became the largest telecommunication network in Laos in terms of customer base, coverage and
revenue (Nguyen Minh Phuong and Le Nhu Quynh, 2013).

In Timor-Leste, Viettel Global built a strategy to provide nationvvide telecom services as

soon as the business was launched. Telemor maximized its distribution netvvork in the early
months o f its operation. While competitors had only One or two major agents, Telemor expanded
its reach far to remote areas where it coníìdently took over thanks to the strong signal, low prices
and over 3,000 vendors throughout Timor-Leste. As a result, after only 6 months of operation,
Telemor had generated proíìts, with a revenue growth rate of 280% in 2014 compared to that in
2013 (Nguyen Son, 2015). In the Peru market, Bitel was also the only telecommunication brand
with its own system (for SIM and terminal devices) covering all the districts in rural areas.

In a nutshell, Viettel Global’s policies on Products, services and distribution in the above-
mentioned countries and other markets have contributed to the parent company (Viettel Group)’s
success in business and increased its market share in the last 10 years.

Price and promotion policies:

In all íbreign markets that Viettel Global’s aíTiliated companies and subsidiaries are
doing business, the price policy for telecommunication services provided is highly competitive.
The price o f services by Viettel Cambodia is of 20%-25% lower than those by other network
providers. Mytel (also known as Telecom International Myanmar) provides its services at a very
low price. The price o f Mytel’s 5-gigabyte data package for 30 days is less than half of that of
Myanmar Post & Telecommunications - Myanmar’s largest telecom operator (Du Lam, 2018).

Telemor oíĩers increasingly cheaper price and the “one second plus on second block”
product package (previously knovvn as “one minute plus one minute”) with free mobile SIM
cards for students, teachers, policemen and so íòrth in Timor-Leste - a small island nation with a
total population o f only 1.2 million. In this country, mobile phone brands have been unpopular
since operators only imported a very small amount of mobile phones to meet the demand of
customers. Besides, the price o f mobile phones is very high. Hovvever, things have changed since
Telemor provided cheap phones and even free-2G phones to certain customers to encourage
them to switch to its telecommunication services. In Peru in 2014, as the íĩrst mobile Service
provider to have the network covering the entừe country and the only provider of 3G services,
Bitel ran attractive promotion programs along vvith a variety of Products and services that came
with the Bitel SIM cards. Thus, the number of Bitel users increased rapidly just in the íirst year.

With the philosophy o f “running business with social corporate responsibility”, right
from the beginning stage o f foreign market penetration, Viettel has committed to governments of

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 pp. 32-52 Penetrating International Telecommunications H arket...

overseas markets for diíĩerent social and charity programs that received positive responses from
the local customers. In Laos, Uniteỉ implemented a number of programs such as free Internet
connection for over 600 schools and educational organizations, video telecalls, connecting the
entừe nation, íunding for the construction of two hospitals, providing supports to the victims of
íloods and storms, and providing the Internet access for the army and police units. Telemor also
launched promotion programs incentivizing students, soldiers and policemen. In othe Asian and
Aírican markets, Viettel promotes social activities such as providing supports to the poor and
íunding for schools and hospitals. These social activities have connected the Viettel’s brands
with people’s lives in order to gain its íootholds in those markets.

• Investing in Service inírastructure and implementing penetration strategy

Rapid implementation is one of the key strategies that Viettel has employed in all
countries. During the phase o f infrastructure construction, the number o f workers involved could
reach thousands. Viettel Timor-Leste, for instance, were in íiill force right from the start of the
prọịect. In most of the selected íbreign markets, Viettel finished the construction o f network
inữastructure and the launching preparation within one year since receiving the investment
license.

In July 2013, after nearly 2 years of network infrastructure investment, Telemor covered
the entire Timor-Leste with a customer base of 96% o f the population. In Myanmar, just within
one year, Mytel had íinished the construction of the nationvvide network. In the Mozambique
market, Viettel’s Movitel (also known as Movitel, SA) netvvork became the largest provider,
surpassing its competitors, Vodacom and Mcel, which have 15 years o f experience in the market,
in just 11 months from the date o f receiving the license. In Peru, after receiving a one-year
license, Bitel went íurther than the commitment with the Peruvian government to provide free
Internet in areas with extremely low living conditions by covering the entire country with the 3G
network, which previously had been available only in big cities. Particularly, in Tanzania, Viettel
Global committed to investing USD 1 billion to extend the 3G coverage to all o f the country’s 26
provinces and provide services to at least 4,000 villages that had not have mobile signal before.
In October 2015, nine months after the start of this project, Viettel oíĩicially launched Halotel
here (Thu Hien Doan, 2015). Accordingly, one year after receiving the investment license,
Viettel Tanzania had completed its investment of over 18,000 km o f fiber-optic cables, nearly
2,500 base-transceiver stations to cover even the remote areas of Tanzania with the 3G network.

Regarding the penetration speed, aíter nearly three years o f operation in Mozambique,
Movitel became the country’s largest provider accounting for 38% of the market share and led
the competition on the telecommunication market. In Cameroon, after only three months, Viettel
Cameroon had reached 1 million mobile subscriptions. Meanvvhile, Halotel in Tanzania had

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 Penetrating International Telecommunications M arket... DD. 32-52

contracted with million customers in less than 3 months and up to 2 million after 9 months. As o f
October 2017, Halotel had more than 3.5 million customers, surpassing enterprises having over
0 years of experience in the market such as Zantel Telecom, Tanzania Telecom and Smart. In
July and August 2017, Halotel contributed 50% to the 427,500 new subscriptions in the market
(Nguyen Tuan, 2017). As in the words of telecom experts, Viettel GlobaPs performance in these
markets was exceptional.

3. Lessons learned for Vietnamese telecommunication enterprises

After 10 years o f development in 10 íòreign countries, Viettel Global has gained valuable
experiences in íòreign market penetration, contributing to the Viettel Group’s achievements in
universalizing access to information and telecommunications technologies as well as in changing
the quality of life of the people in these countries. It is notevvorthy that market penetration is not
an easy process since it requừes wisdom and techniques in the implementation process. The
strategies and tactics that Vietteỉ adopted to achieve the above-mentioned results are as follows:

Fừst, selecting appropriate markets and investment and penetration strategies. Viettel
Global always takes into consideration the crucial aspects of the selected markets such as market
potential, inírastructure conditions and the cultures o f the people. Dừect investment and joint
venture can be the ways to develop modem and synchronous technical inĩrastructure before
entering new markets. They are also suitable for various telecommunication Products and
services, such as landline telephones, íĩxed vvừeless, mobile phones and broadband Internet.
Viettel Global’s strategy is to enter and occupy the markets whcre competitors are unvvilling to
do their businesses (including remote areas). In addition, it also expands in urban areas following
the philosophy o f “íinding ways to provide all services to the entữe population”.

Second, wisely employing investment strategies and suitable penetration policies for
íòreign markets. During the investment stages, Viettel Global built a cooperative and supportive
relationship vvith local governments and local joint venture enterprises. As a result, it has gained
strong support írom the local governments in ủilíilling its commitments to socio-economic
development and security o f the invested countries. In particular, penetration strategies have
been fully implemented in a “customized” manner along with policies that fit local communities
and people as well as theừ cultures and practices.

Thừd, concentrating all resources to rapidly take over the market. Viettel Global
approaches the íòreign markets vvhere telecommunication access is not available on a large scale.
Its rapid and robust investment in inírastructure ensures the provision o f high-quality services.
The duration of investment process and preparation for the Products and services to introduce the
markets has ahvays been shortened as much as possible. It is crucial that the methods used to
introduce and promote products/services must enable to reach the customers in the shortest time.

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 pp. 32-52 Penetrating International Telecommanications M arket...

Fourth, applying multiple marketing policies simultaneously. Besides providing suitable

and diversiíied Products (such as fixed vvữeless telephone, 3G, 4G, video calls, televisioa
services and so on), Viettel Global has set its Service prices lower than its competitors to attract
customers, and widespread its distribution channels to bring the door-to-door services to
customers. The implementation of social and security programs and commitments such as free
Internet for schools and providing supports to local governments, also improves the eíTectiveness
o f promotion programs.

Fifth, boosting the staíTs morale and eíĩort. The characteristics of the Vietters corporate
culture are stringent discipline and work ethics. After 6 months working with the Vietters team
in Vietnam, the Haitian delegates were most impressed with Vietters employees who work from
the moming until night with high discipline. Meanxvhile, the Viettel’s leaders also pay as much
attention to details as their engineers do (Manh Chung, 2011). Cultural diíĩerences seem not
signiíĩcantly to impede the access to íòreign markets since the caring and attentive nature at
work has appealed customers as much as the company’s services themselves.

Given the existing challenges and opportunities in each íòreign market, enterprises need
to formulate strategies and policies that are speciíícally tailored for theừ investment and
penetration into íòreign markets. For TCEs, it is necessary to ensure a vvide network o f technical
inữastructure, the best price, a wide distribution system, diversifíed policies and continuous
innovation o f Products and services.

Those requừements are not new to enterprises in general but Viettel Global has proven its
courage to think and do differently. Many overseas subsidiaries o f Viettel Global such as
Metíòne, Mytel and Bitel have strived to be the best in some certain aspects from the very
beginning such as best network quality, widest coverage, best price and best customer services.
However, the determination and goals alone are not enough. What is even more important is the
fast-paced execution. This is what Viettel Global’s subsidiaries in íoreign màrkets have already
achieved.

In conclusion, the elements constituting a corporate spữit of Viettel have been vividly
portrayed in many aspects o f the investment and penetration process into telecommunication
markets o f various countries. Though speciíĩc situations may differ, the lessons leamed for all
Vietnamese enterprises are that they need to build a cooperative and supportive netvvork,
implement theữ new and different ideas in the fastest way, and keep in their minds a clear
business philosophy “for customers, for the people and for the community”. Also, they should
always stay determined and keep ceaseless eíĩorts in order to overcome diíĩiculties. All Ũ1 all,
these are the manifestations of true “corporate spừit” in the world of integration and competition
today.

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