FPT talks operating telcoms in Cambodia

Vietnamese company FPT Telecom aims to extend operations to the Kingdom, after its attempted acquisition of Vietnam’s EVN Telecom fell through.

FPT Telecom “has plans to expand business in Cambodia, but all is in discussion”, a spokesperson said late on Monday, declining to comment further.

The firm had been in talks to buy a stake in internet service provider MekongNet, though its CEO Sok Channda said this week the talks stalled last year when FPT turned its attention to its planned deal with Vietnamese fixed and mobile operator EVN Telecom. The deal between FPT and EVN fell through earlier in 2011.

FPT has made no attempt to restart talks with MekongNet since the EVN deal failed, she said.

“Until now they have not come to talk with us yet,” Sok Channda said. “I don’t have a plan to sell to anybody yet.”

When asked about FPT’s intentions, a number of other Cambodian ISP and telecom CEOs also claimed they knew of no attempts by FPT to purchase companies in the Kingdom.

In addition to providing ISP networking services to Cambodia and Laos, FTP has been granted a licence to test LTE, so-called fourth-generation wireless in Vietnam, according to VietNamNet. The company told the news agency that because the costs of LTE are far greater than 3G, widespread adoption of 4G is still some ways off. As a result, FPT will focus on foreign acquisitions for the time being.

FPT Information System, a separate branch of FPT, already operates in the Kingdom.