16-19 November 2004
Mexico City, MEXICO
“ICT DEVELOPMENT AND THE USE OF INTERNET IN LAO PDR”
Presented by Singthong Khamone
Deputy Director Telecommunication Division
Department of Posts and Telecommunications
Ministry of Communications, Transports,
Posts and Construction
Vientiane, Lao PDR

• Lao PDR is situated in the centre of South East
Asia peninsula.
• Total area 236,800 square kilometers.
• The country extends approximately 1,000 km at its longest length in the North West to South
East direction.
• Population is approximately 5.5 million.
• Vientiane Capital has population about 500,000

• The ICT Industry in Lao PDR was established in
1980’s.
• ICT Industry has not much developed, due to the small computer user market.
• Early stages, ICT was limited to small computer stores.
• The current ICT Industry in Lao PDR divided in 4 sector categories: Computer retailers (50);
ISP(6); Education(6); Wireless Network
Solutions (1).

• Geographic Area
• Population
• Total Fixed Telephone
236,800 sq km
5.5 million
86,236 lines
• Total Mobile Telephone 250,279 subscribers
• Tele-density 6.11 per 100 people
• Internet dial up users
• ADSL
• IP Star
2,443 lines
58 users
38 users

Source: Ministry of Communications, Transports, Posts and Construction
September 2004
Name of
Operator
Ownership
Lao Telecom
Company
(LTC)
Joint Venture
Government 51%
Private 49%
Enterprise of
Telecom Lao
(ETL)
Government
100%
Lao Asia
Telecom
(LAT)
Government
100%
Millicom Lao
Limited
(MLL)
Joint Venture
Government 22%
Private 78%
Number of
Fixed
Telephone
(lines)
Number of
Mobile
Telephone
(subscribers)
75,252
148,147
9,837
60,273
1,147
10,473
NA
31,386

Statistic of Internet Application
Source: Science, Technology and Environment Agency
September 2004
Name of
ISP laotel
(LTC) stea
(STEA) laonet planet lanexang etllao
(ETL)
Ownership Joint Venture
Government of Lao 51%
Private 49%
Government of Lao
100%
Joint Venture
Government of Lao 30%
Private 70%
Private 100% Private 100% Government of Lao 100%
Number of users
2,443 (dial up)
38 (IP Star)
500 300 600 100
43 (dial up)
58 (ADSL)
Speed of connection
1.5 Mbps 756 Kbps 512 Kbps 2 Mbps 512 Kbps
Internet
Access
(gate way)
Satellite
Intelsat
Thaicom
Satellite
Thaicom
Satellite
Mabuhay
Optic
Fiber
CSC
Satellite
Asiasat
128 Kbps
256 Kbps
512 Kbps
Optic
Fiber
CSC

• ICT situation in Lao PDR is only primary stage.
• Requirement for the Management and Operation
Government Machinery.
• Telecommunication and Postal Network having the capacity to transmit data.
• Few Institutions undertake application research and development of ICT.
• Computer Hardware and Software are imported.

• High interest of using Internet among the educated people.
• Laotian secondary and post secondary youth are also aware of the Internet.
• The number of Internet Cafes is growing. They first sprung up to serve tourists but are increasingly attracting curious Laotians.
• The Lao Government increasingly recognizes that
Internet is important for social economic development.
• The ascension of Lao PDR to the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997 has also been a boost to the Internet. ASEAN has a number of projects that call for countries establishing Internet connectivity.

• Low income of the population
• The price of equipment is high
• Telecommunication infrastructure is lacking in rural and remote areas
• Website in lao content is very few available
• Low levels of IT literacy and English language
• Awareness of the Internet is not high among most of the population

• Lack of coordination in ICT from all side
(Government, donors and private sectors)
• Lack of standards (Lao character set)
• Software and Hardware standardization
• Lack of knowledge capacity
• Lack of ICT Management Strategy
• Telecommunication Infrastructure cannot support high speed information access

• Policies for encouraging ICT Development (National ICT
Policy and Strategy, ICT Master Plan, Cyber law and other legislation related to ICT).
• Development ICT Infrastructure (Optical Fiber Network,
Research and Development of Hardware and Software).
• Implementation in administrative service work
(Government Intranet System).
• Set up National ICT Association and promote ICT investment from private sectors.
• Human Capacity Building (Education and Training).

• We are willing to participate in various ICT programs and activities of regional and international organizations.
• Changing and developing manpower.
• Enhance ICT cooperation in regional and international partnerships.