Vietnamese Operators Face Problems in Network Expansion
Vietnam's mobile service operators say that they have finished the majority of their basement stations, but cannot install antenna towers due to complicated procedures to obtain construction licences. However, once the station is ready for broadcasting, mobile operators face strong objections from local residents fearful of possible health problems.
Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy general director of Viettel, said the corporation had completed 30 basement stations in Hanoi, but could not install the towers due to no construction licences. Finding a suitable location and strict night time construction regulations were also major obstacles, he said.
"We have no measures for building stations in old streets in Hanoi in the context of troubling administrative procedures, evening construction and non-stop civil construction around the selected places.
"The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and its subsidiaries should set up a hot line to support operators immediately, to unify contact agencies to deal with construction licences and put a ban on activities illegally obstructing the installation and make the public aware of the health factors," Hung said.
The MIC has conducted a survey on the installation of stations in Hanoi and northern Ha Nam and Thai Binh provinces and found that all six mobile service operators have faced difficulties in finishing the installation process. Hanoi and northern Ha Nam province project are significant problem areas.
Some operators had to take five or seven months to handle each station in trouble. Each station consisting of cell phone tower and a base which costs around VND200 million ($12,500) for the installation, while cell phone tower construction needs around VND30 million ($1,870).
"Troubles with installing base stations are causing big losses to mobile service operators," said Tran Ngoc Tiep, deputy director of MIC's Inspectorate Department. The number of stations to be installed has boomed this year with VinaPhone and MobiFone planning 6,000 new stations. Of which, VinaPhone has yet to meet its target of installing 1,500 units.
According to the World Health Organisation, base station transmits power levels from a few watts to 100 watts or more, depending on the size of the region. Base station antennas are typically about 20-30 centimetres in width and a metre in length, mounted on buildings or towers at a height of 15m to 50m.
Typically fences keep people away from radio frequency fields exceeding exposure limits. Since antenna direct their power outward and do not radiate significant amounts of energy from their back surfaces or towards the top or bottom of the antenna, the levels of radio frequency energy inside or to the sides of the building are normally very low.
Posted to the site on 28th September 2007
