Metfone

Metfone is the leading mobile operator in Cambodia, with the most extensive, reliable and trusted network. It is the brand name of Viettel (Cambodia) Pte. Ltd. a member of one of the world’s fastest-growing telecom operators, Viettel Group. According to GSMA Wireless Intelligence, Viettel Group is among the top 15 telecom companies globally when ranked by the number of cellular connections. The name “Met” was selected for Cambodia because it means “friend” in Khmer, and conveys our desire to build a truly Cambodian company to serve Cambodians. When Metfone launched its service nationwide in February 2009 there were seven mobile operators in Cambodia. Three ― Mobitel, Mfone and TMIC ― had been operating in Cambodia for around 10 years and were the dominant players. Mobitel (a joint venture between Cambodia’s Royal Group and international partner Millicom) led the market with a share of more than 50%. However, the market at that time was concentrated primarily in major urban centers. Most rural areas ― where 80% of Cambodia's population lives ― had no network coverage. Metfone began expanding along national roads to rural areas, expanding coverage to those who had previously been isolated. At that time, most operators used microwave transmission technology for their networks. As a result, Cambodia’s telecom infrastructure, which was already in a fragile state after decades of conflict, was limited to less than 2,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable and around 1,700 base transceiver stations. Cambodia lagged the region, with a mobile penetration rate of about 20%. Moreover, due to an over reliance on developing mobile networks, fixed lines had been neglected. For years, the total number of fixed-line subscribers was almost unchanged at about 40,000. Internet services, mostly dial-up, were available in some major urban centers, but the costs were among the highest in the world. The penetration rates for both fixed phone lines and the Internet were below 0.5%.