US embassy cable - 03HANOI1144

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001144 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV and DRL 
 
E.O. 12958:  NA 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, VM 
SUBJECT:  VIETNAM:  Have Money?  Get ESPN (and CNN)! 
 
1. Summary:  Although the Vietnamese government (GVN) 
regulates access to foreign television, particularly news 
channels, enforcement of restrictions is limited and many 
Vietnamese citizens have access to CNN and other foreign 
channels.  High-level CPV and GVN officials, as well as 
foreigners are permitted satellite receivers.  Cable TV 
service including a number of foreign channels has been 
available to the public in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hai 
Phong since June 2002, while another, more limited, service 
has been available from 1995.  By regulation, access to CNN 
and some other foreign channels, is limited to senior 
officials, press offices, think tank staff and foreigners, 
but in practice, cable service providers are quite flexible 
because they are trying to compete with the nearly 
uncontrollable illegal use of satellite receivers.  GVN 
officials admit lax enforcement of foreign TV access 
restrictions and the GVN appears to tacitly recognize that, 
as far as foreign television broadcasts go, the genie is out 
of the bottle.  That said, the high cost of access and the 
language barrier mean that very few Vietnamese actually 
watch CNN or other foreign news.  End Summary. 
 
The Official Line and Regulations 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.  According to Dao Duy Quat, Vice Chairman of the CPV's 
Commission for Ideological and Cultural Affairs, the CPV's 
position is that all foreign news items must be edited 
before viewing, even by the selected group of GVN and CPV 
officials permitted to see foreign broadcasts.  He 
acknowledged no discrepancy between this policy and reality. 
According to a June 18, 2002 Prime Ministerial decision 
governing the installation and use of satellite receivers, a 
select group of CPV and GVN officials may have satellite 
receivers installed in their homes and offices for direct 
access to foreign channels.  This group includes officials 
at and above the vice minister or vice chairman rank, top 
provincial-level officials and certain national security 
related officials.  Also, daily newspapers, major television 
and radio stations, the state news agency, foreign relations 
journals based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and foreigners 
may have direct satellite access to foreign channels. 
 
3.  According to the June 2002 decision, only designated 
State companies may purchase and install Television Receiver 
Only (TVRO) equipment and provide cable, or "pay" TV 
service.  The decision restricts access to foreign channels 
through pay TV to the group permitted satellite dishes, 
provincial-level press offices, and think tank staff with a 
demonstrated "need to study" what might be on foreign 
channels.  Current regulations require that programs on 
"Western" channels, excluding music and sports channels, 
need to be "edited"; however, in reality, pay service 
providers do not do any editing, claimed a Vietnam Central 
Television (VCTV) official. 
 
Censorship? 
----------- 
 
4.  There is some censorship of foreign programming.  VCTV 
also rebroadcasts some CNN programming as part of its 
regular, non-fee service.  However, from our experience, 
VCTV does edit sensitive portions of their CNN rebroadcast, 
which is voiced over in Vietnamese so that the original 
English is mostly unintelligible.  Service interruptions or 
signal interference on these channels are not uncommon, but 
it is unclear how many of these events are due to censorship 
and how many are due to technical problems.  The only 
censorship the GVN has acknowledged recently was of Star 
World's broadcast of "Apocalypse Now Redux," although this 
did not affect satellite service.  The rationale for this 
decision is difficult to explain because other movies 
depicting the Vietnam War such as "Missing in Action" and 
"Platoon Leader" are not censored. 
 
Domestic Pay TV Services 
------------------------ 
 
5.  Senior officials from VCTV's Cable TV Service confirmed 
to Emboff that pay TV service, via cable, began in June 
2002, after the Prime Minister's decree.  One VCTV official 
noted that for several months after the decree took effect, 
service providers strictly followed access rules.  However 
providers have become more and more flexible, due to 
business reasons, he claimed.  In order to subscribe, one 
completes an application form including contact and 
employment information.  Installation in Hanoi costs VND 
638,000 (roughly $42.50), while a monthly fee of VND 30,000 
(less than $2) is charged for access to five local channels 
and nine other foreign channels, excluding CNN and BBC.  For 
access to those copyrighted channels, subscribers pay VND 
1,700,000 (some $113) for a decoder, and additional monthly 
fee of VND 30,000 (less than $2).  Monthly service charges 
in Ho Chi Minh City are much higher, running at around VND 
350,000 (about $23).  Basic Installation in Ho Chi Minh City 
is also more expensive, VND 750,000 (about $50). 
 
6.  A cable TV service director admitted that illegally 
imported satellite receivers have been available in the 
market for several years now.  Using this equipment, 
subscribers to a Thai satellite television service receive 
access to forty foreign channels at a cost of $300 annually. 
The equipment itself costs about $600, and "quite a number 
of rich households" have chosen to have it installed, he 
added.  Foreign television programming can be seen in 
entertainment establishments throughout Vietnam, with sports 
and music channels appearing to be by far the most popular. 
Indeed the June 2002 decree coincided with an upsurge in the 
sale of illegal satellite dishes and the World Cup.  Small 
satellite dishes can be found even in remote areas.  A GVN 
campaign to confiscate and prohibit the sale of illegal 
satellite dishes in August 2002 quickly fizzled; because, 
according to some commentators, it was an impossible task. 
 
7.  Also according to a pay television service official, the 
Multi-point Multi-channel Distribution System (MMDS) TV 
service has been available in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City 
since 1995, first as part of a technical experimental 
project.  During the 1995-1998 period, with imported Chinese 
antennas costing about $80 each, one could receive a number 
of foreign channels rebroadcast by VCTV including CNN, TV5, 
MTV, and Cartoon Network.  In 1998, it was officially 
launched as a pay service requiring a decoder box.  It is 
subject to restrictions similar to those on cable service, 
but has not caught on commercially.  MMDS is also available 
in the southern provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An, 
and Vung Tau.  Installation costs VND 1,700,000 ($113) and 
monthly fees for packages of foreign range from VND 45,000 
to VND 500,000 ($3 to $33). 
 
8.  While Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City residents may subscribe 
to the heavily advertised cable TV service, Hanoi has a 
cheaper alternative, at least for the time being.  Hanoi 
Television Service is now quietly selling and installing so- 
called "set-top-boxes" for those who could afford to pay VND 
3,000,000 (less than $200).  A set-top-box, or a "digital 
head", as Hanoians are calling it, allows access to ten 
foreign channels, including CNN, without any additional 
charges.  There are currently no service charges because the 
service is still in an experimental phase run by a VCTV 
subsidiary.  Officials from VCTV Cable Television Service 
asserted that buyers of those expensive "digital heads" are 
being cheated. "Hanoi Television is just trying to sell as 
many set-top-boxes as possible, despite their awareness that 
the experimental project could be over by they end of the 
year (2003), and fees will be charged from then on," 
asserted a VCTV Cable Service director. 
 
Who Sees Foreign TV? 
-------------------- 
 
9.  According to experts from VCTV Cable Television Service, 
most of their customers are Vietnamese workers at foreign 
Embassies, international missions and foreign businesses, as 
well as various GVN employees.  One television official 
claimed that "Most people would find those news items (on 
CNN) quite boring, except for employees of foreign 
organizations that know English."  Other TV officials 
suggested that many people in Hanoi who do not meet the 
requirements set by the June 2002 decree receive cable and 
MMDS TV service.  According to one source, there are about 
25,000 cable subscribers in and around Ho Chi Minh City. 
 
10.  VCTV's Cable Television Service Director in Hanoi 
explained the gap between regulations and reality on access 
to foreign television channels as follows: "There are always 
certain laws to govern certain things.  We have traffic laws 
in place, but people are still violating them.  We need to 
be flexible for business reasons."  Ministry of Culture and 
Information officials insisted that they follow and enforce 
regulations on access and "editing" (or censorship), but 
admitted that there are many people with satellite dishes 
who should not have them.  They refused to state whether 
enforcing the regulations was not feasible or simply not a 
priority. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
11.  The lax enforcement of television access restrictions 
by GVN regulators appears to signal that they realize there 
is little they can do to block the use of satellite dishes. 
Likewise, the "flexible" approach of (GVN controlled) cable 
service providers is a sign that they are attempting to 
compete with illegal satellite receivers.  Especially in 
Hanoi, short-lived attempts to enforce regulations have had 
little effect and it seems the GVN has accepted that there 
is little it can do to directly control access to foreign 
television.  However, the cost of both pay and satellite TV 
service is well beyond the means of the vast majority of 
Vietnam's citizens.  Moreover, relatively few Vietnamese 
find CNN or BBC interesting or even comprehensible. 
Entertainment, especially sports, is king of foreign TV 
programming in Vietnam.  Also, although hardly scientific, 
Mission's impression is that it is much easier for 
Vietnamese citizen to obtain access to foreign TV news 
channels in Hanoi than in Ho Chi Minh City. 
BURGHARDT