NEC, NTT enter Vietnam

NEC, NTT enter Vietnam

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) and NEC Corp. and Hong Kong's PHS International Ltd., will launch trials of the personal handyphone system (PHS) in Vietnam starting Tuesday, company officials said.

The two Japanese companies and the Hong Kong-based joint venture aim to introduce PHS to the Vietnamese market, which had about 53,000 registered cellular telephone subscribers as of October, the officials said.

NTT is Japan's telecommunications giant and NEC a major electronics maker. PHS International was formed jointly by NTT, Cable and Wireless plc of Britain, Hongkong Telecommunications Ltd. and Japanese trading house Itochu Corp., to promote PHS in Asia.

The group will cooperate with Hanoi Posts and Telecommunications, an affiliate of Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications, the officials said.