Founded in 2006, MekongNet is one of Cambodia’s top internet service providers (ISP), that focuses on client satisfaction and international partnerships, as well as engaging in various corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
In an exclusive interview with B2B Cambodia, Sok Channda, CEO and President of MekongNet (Angkor Data Communication Ltd.), shared her insights about the company’s beginnings, challenges, and vision for the future.
Founding MekongNet
Channda shared that before she founded AngkorNet, the predecessor of MekongNet, she had been running AnAnA Computer shop since 1993, which utilised the newest technology in Cambodia at that time.
She explained that even though she did not know much about the internet back then, she had expertise in the IT space as well as international partners from Singapore in the same sector, hence, she was able to start MekongNet.
“We started small and had no intention of competing with anyone,” said Channda. “We have grown this big today by focusing on quality. When we work with clients, we provide quality services. We don’t think about competing with bigger companies, instead, we focus on providing a stable internet connection to our customers.”
MekongNet’s Corporate Client Focus
Targeting corporate clients was initially a challenge for MekongNet, Channda shared, because corporate customers prioritise the highest quality services. Her company had to learn how to quickly provide support to clients when issues occur.
“When I first built MekongNet, we targeted corporate clients, and we had to train our staff to be responsive and supportive. We also had to build a stable network infrastructure, because if our network was not stable, it would affect all our customers,” she recalled.
When asked about choosing to not focus on competition, Channda explained that she had a different goal in mind for MekongNet.
“When we talk about competition, it implies that we follow in others' footsteps and imitate them, but I wanted to do things differently,” she said. “I don’t want too many customers that we can’t take care of. We want to focus only on a segment of customers that we can support to the best of our ability.”
MekongNet is currently licensed by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC) as an Internet Service Provider (ISP), a Cambodia-licensed International Gateway (IIG) provider, and a Domestic Internet Exchange (IDX) provider. MekongNet offers its customer base PLC/DPLC/VPN, Cloud Services, Data Centres, Media Services, Managed Services, and ICT Solutions.
Read More About MekongNet’s Services.
Corporate Social Responsibility At MekongNet
“From the moment we launched MekongNet, our goal has been to help,” stressed Channda. “When internet access was very expensive back then, I thought that if I wanted to help society, I’d have to start with providing free internet to schools.”
With this belief, MekongNet offers free internet and funding to educational NGOs, schools and libraries in the provinces, in order to help students and teachers learn and develop new skills through the internet.
I believe that if we help by only providing funding, it will last only a short amount of time, however, by providing internet access, they can work and learn new skills, enabling them to expand their knowledge in the long-term. Having internet access has helped teachers teach their students and also allowed them to learn by themselves. It’s been 20 years now, and we continue to support these initiatives.
MekongNet also supports Kantha Bopha Hospital, the Airavata Cambodia elephant conservation project, and Smile Cambodia (formerly Operation Smile), which helps children with cleft lips. Channda herself is on the Board of Directors of Smile Cambodia.
Additionally, Channda shared that she is part of a few women's associations, such as the Cambodian Women's Development Agency (CWDA) and the Cambodia Women Business Federation (CWBF), and she is involved in activities supporting persons with disabilities.
MekongNet’s International Partners And Collaboration
In Cambodia, MekongNet is a partner company of Cisco and Huawei systems. The ISP also has partnerships with companies in Thailand – such as NTT, Symphony, CAT, and Jastel – and in Vietnam – Viettel and VNPT. Channda added that MekongNet also partners with companies in Hong Kong and Singapore, including China Telecom (CT).
Many of the solutions the company offers, such as Software as a Service (SaaS) and Direct Cloud Connectivity, also come from specialised international providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and more.
"Our goal is to introduce new products and services to our customers based on whatever they need. Although those needs may be new to us, we will learn from our customers and consult with our partners to meet those needs," the CEO of MekongNet concluded.