The Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) will officially stop providing its CardPhone service nationwide from March 25 after over 15 years of operation.

Most of Hanoi’s phone booths are broken 

Between 1997 and 2002, CardPhone was appreciated as a very utility service for users in public areas such as stations, hospitals and schools. VNPT installed a total 12,071 CardPhone booths.

However, the strong development of other telecom services in recent years, particularly mobile phones, has downplayed CardPhone’s relevance.

Since 2002, CardPhone’s revenues have seriously decreased despite VNPT’s efforts to raise the service’s operation efficiency. The group worked with both domestic and foreign partners to upgrade the phone booths and advertising campaigns.

By the end of December 2012, VNPT had dismantled 9,949 CardPhone booths. Another 1,096 cabins need to be uninstalled due to their poor condition and only 1,029 are still in operation.

Users who bought cards for the service will be able to redeem them at VNPT transaction offices to get the compensation for the remaining value of the cards with replacement mobile phone cards or cash.