So far, there are 9 mobile service providers operating in the Kingdom of Cambodia with some newer entrants to Cambodia’s telecoms market. The increasingly competitive phone market remain tight-tipped about the pricing rules which was set a minimum traffic charge for calls within network and calls across networks.

Leading phone service operator MobiTel and Russian Phone Company, Beeline accused each other of selling below cost price and blocking interconnectivity in September.

Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, So Khun, said that the government will suspend the license of any phone operators that violate the minimum tariff set by the edit, adding that “we offered free-market principles, but operators kept having feuds with one another, so the government needs to intervene it.”

Without the directive “violators will exploit the other companies with their prices,” said So Khun.

Simon Perkins, chief executive officer of Hello, one of the top four operators by users and an early entrant to the sector, has long been a supporter of minimum pricing and said that stability in the sector will enable operators to return to investing in network expansion and quality improvements, The Phnom Penh Post quoted as saying.

Sources within Mobitel, Hello and Metfone say new competitors have been unfairly benefiting from the infrastructure investments made by older operators, and have been able to offer cheaper services due to lower maintenance fees and equipment costs, reported the Post.

The Cambodia Daily quoted said Simon Perkins as saying that this is a measure that MPTC has had to do because there are no competition laws.” Hello, unlike several other competitors, doesn’t offer free call promotions. He said that Hello could benefit from the directive as some companies raise their prices but that this will depend on the enforcement of the law.

Following the pricing war between phone operators, the government analyzed the cost and profit information submitted by nine mobile phone firms.

Metfone Managing Director Nguyen Duy Tho was quoted by the Post as saying that the Vietnam-backed service provider, which is competing with market leader Mobitel for top spot among the Kingdom’s operators, was unfazed by the new rules.

Related posts:

• November 16, 2009 — Blackberry Smart phone entered Cambodia (0)
• November 13, 2009 — Telecoms dispute solved (0)
• October 23, 2009 — Smart Mobile launched its Roaming service (0)
• October 5, 2009 — Mobile phone companies: pricing battle in Cambodia (0)
• May 21, 2009 — Beeline becomes 9th mobile operator (0)
• March 17, 2009 — Phone revenue to rise (0)
• June 15, 2010 — Mfone eschews pricing war (0)
• May 26, 2010 — Smart banks a top-up deal (0)
• April 16, 2010 — Govt axes Internet monopoly planGovt axes Internet monopoly plan (0)
• February 17, 2010 — Only MPTC can licence airwave use, official says (0)

Beeline said it registered 100,000 users in its first fortnight of operations, 60,000 of whom are active.

Vladimir Riabokon, executive vice president of Vimpelcom Group, which owns the Beeline brand under its local Sotelco subsidiary, said the company is aiming for 500,000 customers by December.

“Seventy percent of Cambodian people are under 30 years of age, and the market penetration rate is around 25 percent,” he said. “This presents incredible potential for our services.”

He claimed the firm’s competitors are cutting spending, which he said gives Beeline – the ninth operator in the Cambodian market – a chance to take market share. The company is also looking at buying a 3G licence.

“We want 6 percent market share by the end of this year and 20 percent within three years, because we want to be one of the market leaders in the country,” he said.

Riabokon said the company had budgeted US$200 million over the next three years and would spend $70 million this year on Beeline alone.

“The commercial start of the Beeline brand in Cambodia is the first launch by a Russian telecommunications operator under its own brand in Southeast Asia,” he said.

Gael Campan, general director at Sotelco, said at the launch that Beeline had coverage in 11 provinces, covering more than one-third of the population and aims to reach two-thirds of the country’s 14 million people by December.

Campan said Beeline has 180 branded retail stands and five sales offices in Phnom Penh, Preah Sihanouk, Siem Reap, Battambang and Kampong Cham.

By the end of the year, he predicted the company would have 5,000 point-of-sale zones and 1,700 specialised stores selling SIM cards.

Touch Heng, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, said he hopes Beeline can achieve plans to provide a cheap, high-quality service.

“The rate [5 US cents for a local call and 15 cents for an international call] offered by Beeline is a very good price for users because Cambodians want low prices and a high-quality service,” he said.

The VimpelCom Group also operates the Beeline brand in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Armenia, and will launch in Vietnam later this year.

VimpelCom Group holds a 90 percent stake in Sotelco, with the remaining 10 percent owned by an unidentified Cambodian entrepreneur who local company that holds a GSM licence.

(The original article is extracted from The Phnom Penh Post)

Related posts:

• January 20, 2010 — MPTC puts an end to free mobile call promotion (0)
• June 15, 2010 — Mfone eschews pricing war (0)
• May 26, 2010 — Smart banks a top-up deal (0)
• April 16, 2010 — Govt axes Internet monopoly planGovt axes Internet monopoly plan (0)
• February 17, 2010 — Only MPTC can licence airwave use, official says (0)
• December 24, 2009 — Telecom War Prompts Ministry Price Floor (0)
• November 16, 2009 — Blackberry Smart phone entered Cambodia (0)
• November 13, 2009 — Telecoms dispute solved (0)
• October 23, 2009 — Smart Mobile launched its Roaming service (0)
• October 5, 2009 — Mobile phone companies: pricing battle in Cambodia (0)