Vietnam has run into some rather odd problems with its telecommunications grid, and the government is now imposing a restriction on the number of subscriptions available to consumers.

Vietnam has around 87 million inhabitants, and 97 percent of them have mobile phones, and if you add the land lines, you end up with a total of 111 million numbers. Hence, the Information and Communications Ministry is a bit worried that the country's existing numbering scheme won't be able to cope with more users.

"Because the number of mobile phone numbers is limited, the telecom resources must be put into effective use," it said in a circular seen on Wednesday.

To make matters worse, a new telco called Beeline VN is about to launch later this month. It will be Vietnam's seventh mobile phone service provider, offering consumers seven times more choice in choosing a cell plan than in choosing a political party.

More here.