Vietnam Phone News Pleases Travel Agents : Communications: Companies with many Vietnamese-American clients say direct-dialing service to Vietnam will cut their expenses.

WESTMINSTER —  Good news travels fast, and Little Saigon travel agent Steve Nguyen was helping to spread it last week.

He spent the morning calling clients to share the news: The United States will reopen direct telephone links with Vietnam for the first time in 17 years.

“When I heard the news, I was so happy and relieved,” beamed the president of Bolsa Travelmart in Westminster. “This will cut my operating costs and make my job a lot easier. Soon, I don’t have to go through a third party to call Vietnam.”

On Thursday, AT&T; announced that it has signed an agreement with the Vietnam Posts & Telecommunications Corp. to start providing telephone service within the next few days. Limited direct-dial service between the United States and Vietnam will be offered by routing calls through third countries, and direct-dial service should be available in a few weeks.

The announcement was welcomed by many Vietnamese business people in Orange County, particularly travel agencies that must be in frequent contact with the Southeast Asian country, said Dr. Co Long Pham, president of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce in Westminster.

There are more than 700,000 Vietnamese immigrants in the United States, most of whom arrived after the Communists toppled the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese government in April, 1985. Orange County has the highest concentration of Vietnamese immigrants in the nation--72,000--many of whom live in Westminster and Garden Grove. The Bay Area also has a large Vietnamese population.

Travel agents spend thousands of dollars each month calling and faxing documents and visa applications to the Vietnamese government through third countries. Michael H. Tran of Travel World in Garden Grove, for example, said he spends at least $600 a month on phone calls and faxes. He currently pays up to $80 for a 10-minute call to Vietnam.

“The fax service is very important to our business because it is the only way to send personal data sheets and documents of our customers to the Vietnamese government to obtain tourist visas,” he said.

Tran expects his business expenses to drop about 20% when AT&T; begins its service. Bolsa Travelmart’s Nguyen anticipates a savings of 40% on phone and fax expenses.

But AT&T; may benefit the most financially. It is projecting revenue of $20 million for the first year of its Vietnam phone service, said Scott Horne, a company spokesman.

While most everyone in the Vietnamese community seems happy about restoration of phone service, some small businesses that provide fax services as a sideline may suffer a bit. Transmitting documents and letters to Vietnam has been such a lucrative business that even some real estate brokers--many of whom are reeling from the recession--have been offering to send faxes for $10 to $15 per page. Even one dress shop, Tuyet Fashion in Westminster, has joined in the fax business.

Pham said lower phone rates may encourage people to fax letters instead of mailing them because the cost of sending faxes will drop. Letters sometimes take a month or more to reach Vietnam from the United States, and prospects for delivery are uncertain.

“A lot of the people I spoke with today have been beaming with joy,” Pham said. “They couldn’t wait for the service to begin.”