According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, the MNP service has considerable benefits to the market, telecommunications businesses, and mobile phone subscribers while being able to meet the administration demands.
However, it is quite hard for customers to identify precisely the numbers of each network provider, leading to the difficulty in calculation their corresponding on-net or off-net call fee.
It is reported that from May 1, 2018, the call fee between two networks ranges from VND400 – 440 per minute (approx. $0.017 – 0.019) instead of the old charge of VND500 – 550 per minute ($0.021 – 0.026), a minor decrease of 20 percent.
Besides the current cheap call fee, there exist hundreds of other methods for mobile calling via the platforms of 4G and Wifi (like Over-the-top application or OTT). Therefore, phone users are not too concerned about the traditional way.
The website vnta.gov.vn of the Vietnam Authority of Telecommunications also offers a tool to search mobile phone number prefixes, along with the corresponding apps, so that users can identify the network providers of searched numbers and the matching call fee.
Another way is to send a request SMS along with a phone number to the current network provider. A reply will tell senders necessary information.
However, mobile number subscribers feel it a nuisance to carry out this process. They suggest that it will be more convenient if network providers display their name along with callers’ phone numbers.
