ONI Country Profi le
387
Internet in Vietnam
Internet use in Vietnam is growing rapidly. In 2009, the country had an estimated
23,283,300 Internet users, with a penetration rate of 26.6 percent.
3 The country ’ s
broadband subscription rate is 3.6 percent.
4 Recently the home surpassed public access
centers as the primary place that users access the Internet.
5 Prior to 2009, users primarily went to public access centers, such as Internet caf é s or post offi ces. Access through
mobile phones has also increased, refl ecting competitive and attractive mobile phone
packages.
6 A study conducted by Yahoo! and Kantar Media found that 71 percent of
users in major cities such as Can Tho, Danang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Min City accessed
the Internet from their homes.
7 However, Internet caf é s remain popular throughout
the country, providing service to youth, online game players, and those who are
unable to afford broadband access.
While any Vietnamese fi rm can operate as an Internet service provider (ISP), only
companies that are state-owned can operate as Internet access service providers or
Internet exchange providers. Formally, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
lists nine Internet access services providers, fi ve Internet exchange providers, and 15
online service providers as licensed in Vietnam.
8 The state-owned ISP, the Vietnam
Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT), dominates the broadband market. As of
November 1, 2010, the VNPT held 74 percent of the market share, followed by Viettel
with 11 percent, FPT Telecom with 10 percent, and SPT with 2 percent.
9
State regulation determines how Internet connectivity in Vietnam is organized and
managed, and facilitates Internet content fi ltering by limiting external access points
that must be controlled.
10 Only Internet exchange points (IXPs) can connect to the
international Internet, while online service providers (OSPs) and Internet content
providers (ICPs) may connect to ISPs and IXPs.
11 At the edge of the network, Internet
agents, such as Internet caf é s, connect to their contracted ISPs.
12 Internet service providers may connect with each other and with IXPs, but private ISPs cannot connect
with each other in peer arrangements.
13 Currently, IXPs can theoretically maintain
independent connections to the international Internet, but it is not clear how many
do so in practice. Internet connectivity in Vietnam is slow compared to other Asian
countries — on average, broadband connection speed for downloading is 6.66 Mbps,
and the speed for uploading is 3.77 Mbps.
14
In Vietnam, Internet fi ltering happens at the domain name system (DNS) level,
which means that instead of blocking a site, ISPs simply confi gure domain names to
resolve to an invalid address or remove blocked Web sites from their DNS servers. It
is widely known that blocking at the DNS level is subject to vulnerabilities, as this
form of blocking can be easily circumvented by Internet users through the use of
circumvention tools, proxy servers, and virtual private networks (VPNs) or simply by
387
Internet in Vietnam
Internet use in Vietnam is growing rapidly. In 2009, the country had an estimated
23,283,300 Internet users, with a penetration rate of 26.6 percent.
3 The country ’ s
broadband subscription rate is 3.6 percent.
4 Recently the home surpassed public access
centers as the primary place that users access the Internet.
5 Prior to 2009, users primarily went to public access centers, such as Internet caf é s or post offi ces. Access through
mobile phones has also increased, refl ecting competitive and attractive mobile phone
packages.
6 A study conducted by Yahoo! and Kantar Media found that 71 percent of
users in major cities such as Can Tho, Danang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Min City accessed
the Internet from their homes.
7 However, Internet caf é s remain popular throughout
the country, providing service to youth, online game players, and those who are
unable to afford broadband access.
While any Vietnamese fi rm can operate as an Internet service provider (ISP), only
companies that are state-owned can operate as Internet access service providers or
Internet exchange providers. Formally, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
lists nine Internet access services providers, fi ve Internet exchange providers, and 15
online service providers as licensed in Vietnam.
8 The state-owned ISP, the Vietnam
Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT), dominates the broadband market. As of
November 1, 2010, the VNPT held 74 percent of the market share, followed by Viettel
with 11 percent, FPT Telecom with 10 percent, and SPT with 2 percent.
9
State regulation determines how Internet connectivity in Vietnam is organized and
managed, and facilitates Internet content fi ltering by limiting external access points
that must be controlled.
10 Only Internet exchange points (IXPs) can connect to the
international Internet, while online service providers (OSPs) and Internet content
providers (ICPs) may connect to ISPs and IXPs.
11 At the edge of the network, Internet
agents, such as Internet caf é s, connect to their contracted ISPs.
12 Internet service providers may connect with each other and with IXPs, but private ISPs cannot connect
with each other in peer arrangements.
13 Currently, IXPs can theoretically maintain
independent connections to the international Internet, but it is not clear how many
do so in practice. Internet connectivity in Vietnam is slow compared to other Asian
countries — on average, broadband connection speed for downloading is 6.66 Mbps,
and the speed for uploading is 3.77 Mbps.
14
In Vietnam, Internet fi ltering happens at the domain name system (DNS) level,
which means that instead of blocking a site, ISPs simply confi gure domain names to
resolve to an invalid address or remove blocked Web sites from their DNS servers. It
is widely known that blocking at the DNS level is subject to vulnerabilities, as this
form of blocking can be easily circumvented by Internet users through the use of
circumvention tools, proxy servers, and virtual private networks (VPNs) or simply by