S-Fone was a

mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

operator in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

that used the

CDMA Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...

technology. Founded on 1 July 2003 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, S-Fone became the third network of Vietnam, breaking the duopoly of the two

VNPT Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT, ), is a telecommunications company, owned by the Vietnamese Government, and the national post office of Vietnam. According to a list of UNDP in 2007, it is the second-largest company in Vietnam ...

operators. It is the

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

of S-Telecom (CDMA Mobile Phone Centre) (set up as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

between Saigon Postel Corp. (SPT) and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

SK Telecom SK Telecom Co., Ltd. ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 percent share as of 2008. ...

). SK Telecom decided to leave the partnership in 2010. SPT has since then found it difficult to find a new partner, after a co-operation with Saigon Tel failed. As of the start of 2005, breaking the old rule of the calls fee from 10 second to 1 second (6+1)7, S-Fone has 1,500,000 to 1,800,000 subscribers, contributing 3% to the total market (after

Mobifone Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services One Member Limited Liability Company (with the brand MobiFone vi, Tổng công ty Viễn Thông MobiFone) is a major Vietnamese mobile network operator headquartered in Trung Hoa Nhan Chinh, Hanoi. Founded on 16 ...

with 41%,

Viettel Mobile The Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (), less formally recognized as Viettel Group () or simply Viettel, is a Vietnamese multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. Viettel is the largest telecomm ...

with 34% and

Vinaphone Vinaphone is a Vietnamese major mobile network operator headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. Founded June 26, 1996, as a GSM launcher, Vinaphone is the second network (after MobiFone) and currently the second largest provider in Vietnam. Partnersh ...

with 20%.Mobifone Portal :: , New Value Added Service
/ref> Its market share (estimated based on revenues) fell to 0.1% by 2012 after suffering from a lack of capital, a small number of subscribers and low network quality. S-Fone has become highly indebted and has been unable to pay salaries for several months in its Hanoi branch in late 2012.{{cite web , url = http://www.vneconomictimes.com/article/business/s-fone-s-license-expires , title = S-Fone's license expires , date = 6 October 2016 , accessdate = 26 November 2017 S-Fone ceased its operation, closed its stores and website, and released its staff from their contracts in July 2012. Its operating license expired in 2016.

Achievements

S-Fone is the first and biggest national cellular

mobile phone network A cellular network or mobile network is a communication network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless. The network is distributed over land areas called "cells", each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver (typically thre ...

using

in Vietnam (followed by EVN Telecom and HT Mobile). On 9 October 2006, S-Fone officially launched

2000 1x EV-DO value added services for the first time in Vietnam: VOD/MOD (

Video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

TV on demand Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

on demand) and

mobile Internet The mobile web refers to mobile browser-based World Wide Web services accessed from handheld mobile devices, such as smartphones or feature phones, through a mobile or other wireless network. History and development Traditionally, the Worl ...

(enabling internet access for PCs and laptops via S-Fone network) beginning in Ho Chi Minh City,

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

, Da Nang,

Hai Phong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

and

Can Tho Can may refer to: Containers * Aluminum can * Drink can * Oil can * Steel and tin cans * Trash can * Petrol can * Metal can (disambiguation) Music * Can (band), West Germany, 1968 ** ''Can'' (album), 1979 * Can (South Korean band) Other * Ca ...

References

Telecommunications companies of Vietnam Telecommunications companies established in 2003 2003 establishments in Vietnam Vietnamese brands