With the rapid evolution of the industry, especially during the late 1990s, Decree 121 soon
became obsolete. On 12 November 1997, the Government issued Decree 109/1997/ND-CP
on postal and telecommunications activities (“Decree 109”) to replace Decree 121. A
number of implementing sub-regulations followed. Most of these regulations had the
purpose of protecting the State’s monopoly through tight control of the market.