Unitel urged to become leader in digital and information technology in Laos

Senior Lieutenant General Vu Hai San and his party meet with executives and employees of Star Telecom (Unitel) in Vientiane. - VT

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/Asia News Network): Star Telecom (Unitel) to continue to develop digital and information technology products so the company becomes the leader in the field in Laos.

Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of National Defence, Senior Lieutenant General Vu Hai San made the request when he and his party visited the company’s headquarters in Vientiane on Wednesday (Nov 2), where he was welcomed by the General Director of Star Telecom (Unitel), Tran Trung Hung.

Senior Lieutenant General Vu Hai San and his party meet with executives and employees of Star Telecom (Unitel) in Vientiane.

Also present was Laos’ Deputy Minister of National Defence, Major General Vongkham Phommakone, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, officials from Laos’ Ministry of National Defence, and company staff.

Vu Hai San urged Unitel executives to nurture the special relationship between Laos and Vietnam, take greater responsibility for business operations, and to take good care of the company’s employees so that they lived a better life.

He also urged the company to support the work of Laos and Vietnam’s defence ministries, invest in new technologies, and sustain its position as a leading company in the information, telecommunications and technology sector in Laos and the Asia-Pacific region and try to develop the company to become number one in Laos by 2025.

The company should more actively pursue digital development processes and strategies to the Lao government and ministries in order to contribute to the digital transformation of Laos, he added.

It is also necessary to continue social assistance activities and cooperate with other Vietnamese business operators to attract investment.

After 14 years, Unitel is the largest telecoms operator in Laos and a major contributor to the government‘s budget for socio-economic development, and has gained the confidence of the Lao government and people, Tran Trung Hung said.

The company is also a model of economic cooperation between the Lao and Vietnamese governments, he added.

The company operates the largest and widest mobile signal transmission network in Laos with more than 9,000 BTS stations, with 4,000 4G base stations and more than 37,000km of fibre optic cable.

Unitel has 3.5 million subscribers, comprising 58 percent of market share in the telecommunications sector, and has created jobs for over 27,000 people in Laos, Mr Tran Trung Hung said.

The company has supported the digital transformation process and created electronic infrastructure for the Lao government worth more than US$3.3 million.

Social responsibility activities so far amount to over US$31 million in value and include the provision of free internet to schools, training on technology and telecommunications, construction of schools, scholarship assistance for top students in remote areas, public health service, and assistance to flood victims.

In addition, during the Covid-19 outbreak, the company provided medical equipment to the Lao government worth more than $800,000, Tran Trung Hung said.