Telecom Cambodia ready for global connections

Telecom Cambodia (TC) saw revenue rise more than 800 percent and profits reach 415 percent by the end of last year, just two years since its establishment in January 2006.

"The progress of Telecom Cambodia has been incredible," the company's Director General, Dr Nhek Korsol Vythyea, said at a recent interview.

Partners in prosperity

"We are working with our business partners, the government, and we have cooperation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). All of them have helped us achieve great success in a short period of time."

According to Vythyea, TC will launch two big projects in the near future in collaboration with ADB: one in mobile phone services and the other in the construction of a submarine cable.

"Given that the fixed line in Cambodia is about 2-3 percent of the market share, we have to focus on mobile phone services to increase our market share," noted Vythyea.

"Telecom Cambodia would like to increase its market share, not only for business reasons, but also because we would like to be the function of government that maintains the market."

The submarine cable project with the ADB is very important for Cambodia because the country currently accesses the world through capacities bought from Vietnam and Thailand, which results in Internet access being extremely expensive, explained Vythyea.

"Hopefully the government can build on the infrastructure like the submarine cable. This will help the country drop the price of Internet and attract investors if the infrastructure is improved," he added.

In addition to the cooperation with ADB in capacity building, TC has also prepared a plan together with the bank for training of its staff. ADB also conducts surveys and assists with the organization of TC management.

"Personally, I think TC should move by itself in the first five to 10 years. It is better to have a business corporation rather than a joint venture," the director general said.

He added that TC could cooperate with business partners for some services, but it is not time to sell shares yet.

"When the company grows bigger, we can sell 20-30 percent of the shares for a much higher price."

"TC's revenue is around $30 million currently. With the five-year plan (2008-12) that we are creating with ADB, our goal is to reach $100 million in revenue," Vythyea explained.

Fierce competition

With a telecom law and other regulations in place in 2008, Vythyea expressed confidence that more and more investors will come to Cambodia.

He added that more fierce competition in the field of fixed line and other services in the telecom sector will result in the benefit finally going to end users who are expected to enjoy a better product for a better price.

Telecom Cambodia is 100 percent owned by the government, and the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications are its two shareholders.

"Besides the great support we get from the government, we are also improving our services now that we are an enterprise; service and quality are always our top concern," said Vythyea, adding that TC also plans to make further investments in the telecom sector.

China relations

"Our relations with China are important to both our company and the telecom sector in Cambodia," the TC director general said.

TC has one project with China, which is expected to give a lot of support to the company as well as all telecom players in Cambodia. All national and international connections can be accessed through this new system that the project is putting in place.

China has also given the Southeast Asian nation a loan worth about $30 million for the next project.

Community activity

According to Vythyea, TC has links with the Red Cross and has undertaken projects with the education sector to help students learn how to use the Internet.

"Also, TC is looking very closely at its prices to make sure we are able to offer our services as widely as possible throughout the country and that our services get to those people who need them most."

Challenges ahead

"There are many areas of challenge for us," Vythyea said. "Firstly, since the laws and regulations are not in force, many people are just doing what they want without restriction within the market. This makes it difficult to maintain the market, maintain the economy and security as well.

"Besides, training is another challenge, in which TC invests heavily.

"Our goal is to deliver both quality and capacity to customers. So we are implementing new technology to help us achieve this," he said. "We also need to train our staff effectively in how to actually do the business."

"Telecom Cambodia is open to new partners and for business cooperation," the director general said.

"All investors are welcome. Please come and see what we have, come to survey and to search. For people wanting to come here for business, if you feel that things are difficult to do please tell the government and give them your feedback. Our government is very concerned about this and wants to ensure that any road blocks to progress are removed."

(China Daily 04/10/2008 page29)