Translation Results Requested Through Conyac Made Public

In a ceremony in the capital of Hanoi, celebrating the 15 years of internet development, professors, ministers, executives, and leaders gathered together to share their thoughts, hopes, and promises on where the internet in Vietnam is headed next. Dr. Mai Liem Truc, former deputy minister of post and transport laments that “there are still 60 million people who are not using the internet.” He cites that one of the reasons Vietnam has experienced so much growth compared to its regional neighbors is because of the price of web access, which is on a par – or a bit lower – in price with neighboring countries. Most people pay under 300,000 VND ($15) per month for broadband internet via state-owned telecoms. From the state company side, Nguyen Manh Hung, vice general director of Viettel Group, one of Vietnam’s leading telecoms, stated that Viettel wants to see every person in Vietnam with a smartphone, and every family with a 10Gbps broadband internet connection. Viettel has already been quite aggressive with uptake in schools, providing over 30,000 schools with internet connectivity. By 2015 their goal is to have fiber optic lines in every village in the country and by 2020 to equip 70 percent of all households with broadband internet. Other major telecoms companies, including VNPT, SCTV, and FPT, also share this aggressive sentiment and are implementing strategies of their own in their sectors.