The Vietnamese government has overhauled its rules on the internet, paving the way for a further ten firms to be licenced as internet service providers by the end of the year.

There are currently five ISPs in Vietnam, all of them state-owned.

Internet penetration in Vietnam is low, with an estimated 150,000 internet subscribers out of a population of 78 million.

However, the government has made clear that even as it allows private firms to become ISPs, it wants to retain control of the medium.

The decree, which will take effect on 7 September, also sets new fines for the illegal use of the internet.

As well as prohibiting the spreading of pornographic material, and the stealing of private information, illegal activities include the reselling of a subscribers internet access.

Internet cafes will therefore have to register with authorities or be closed down.

Providing internet services without a license will incur a fine of 70 million dong ($4666).

Job creation?

John Shrimpton, a director of Dragon Capital in Ho Chi Min City, told the BBC's World Business Report that the government hopes that the internet will boost software development in Vietnam.

"Because of its demographics, there is about 1.3 million people coming onto the job market every year," he says. "And so the need to create jobs I think really is at the heart of all of these issues."

John Shrimpton says that the reforms are a result of political change.

"The country now has a new General Secretary, who is generally accepted to have a more reform minded outlook," he said.