PRESS RELEASE

October 27, 2006

Vietnam’s First Wireless Broadband Pilot Launched In Lao Cai Province

The U.S. Embassy, Intel, Vietnam Data Communications (VDC), and the Lao Cai Province People’s Committee launched Vietnam’s first trial WiMAX broadband network today in Lao Cai.  U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Aloisi, and senior officials from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) joined with representatives of Intel and VDC partners in opening and testing this historic and groundbreaking pilot program. 

The WiMAX trial project was initiated in Hanoi on June 14, 2006 with a Memorandum of Understanding between the three partners - USAID, Intel, and VDC - to jointly apply a new generation of wireless broadband technologies in ways that can dramatically enhance the lives and economic opportunity of Vietnam’s rural and remote communities.  To conduct this demonstration project, a base station and twenty end-user WiMAX wireless modems have now been installed to support this broadband framework. 

The new technology, pioneered by world technology leader Intel Corporation and operated by Vietnam Data Communications, offers a broad variety of economic, educational, health, community and social applications across Lao Cai and in outlying areas beyond.  It carries two new services not available through traditional dial-up access; high-speed broadband internet access and Voice-Over Internet Protocol, which allow users to access phone lines or other Voice-Over users through their computers. The end-users for the pilot include schools, health care centers, the Post Office, an Internet station and cafe, a family farm, a hotel, an investment project, and selected Lao Cai public and community service locations.

Speaking of the partnership that made this pilot possible, U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Aloisi said, “The joint vision we share together is that every person, family and community – no matter where they are located, or how far away they are from urban centers – can connect with the international “knowledge economy” in ways that uplift their life and prospects for the future.”

The next stage of this historic WiMAX pilot project is scheduled to begin in early 2007 and will utilize Vietnam’s new IPSTAR satellite to provide advanced wireless broadband service to remote regions of Lao Cai where no telecom infrastructure or telephone landlines currently exist.

About USAID

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is the United States government agency responsible for administering U.S. development assistance to support long term socio-economic growth in countries around the world.  USAID’s assistance programs in Vietnam are designed to support economic reform and competitiveness, promote civil society & the rule of law, and mitigate problems challenging sustainable development such as HIV/AIDS, environmental degradation and avian influenza.  Since 1995, the USAID program in Vietnam has expanded into areas such as legal reform, governance, financial sector development, humanitarian needs and anti-trafficking, HIV/AIDS prevention, environmental protection and disaster prevention. As part of that overall effort, USAID is now supporting a Public/Private Partnership with leading US companies to increase the benefits to rural areas of Vietnam of modern wireless broadband connectivity. USAID’s Last Mile Initiative (LMI) provided support for this project, including providing wider access to the full spectrum of modern communication, along with knowledge, skill, and productivity resources should dramatically improve the development prospects of farmers, entrepreneurs, schools and citizens throughout the country.

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