Vietnamese telco Viettel announced the nationwide launch of its standalone (SA) 5G service, making it the first operator in the country to do so.
State-owned Viettel said it will sell a range of 5G service packages for postpaid subscribers, from VND200,000 (US$8.00) a month with a daily data cap of 6GB to VND2 million a month with a 50 GB daily cap. Prepaid subscribers can get 5G packages ranging from 4GB of daily data at VND135,000 a month 30GB at VND210,000.
Viettel said it will offer a QoS-based service-based package that allows customers to flexibly prioritize high speed and low latency according to their needs.
The telco also said it plans to offer 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) service, as well as private 5G services for vertical businesses such as factories, industrial parks and seaports.
Viettel has been trialling 5G since 2019, but only received its 5G spectrum licence from the Ministry of Information and Communications in March 2024 after winning the first round of an auction for the 2500-2600 MHz band.
Viettel says it completed initial deployment of its 5G SA network in August this year, with 5G coverage points in 63 provinces and cities. Last month, it announced contracts with Ericsson and Nokia to expand its 5G network even further, as well as upgrade its 4G network.
One sticking point in the offering will be device support. By Viettel’s own estimates, less than 20% of smartphones in Vietnam support any kind of 5G connectivity, and of those, few support 5G SA. Viettel said it is closely coordinating with popular smartphone brands Vietnam, including Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo, to upgrade their device firmware to support 5G SA.
According to state media reports, VNPT – the only other mobile operator to win a 5G spectrum licence in the March auction – plans to complete installation of 3,000 5G base stations across the country by November to support a nationwide commercial launch by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, according to Vietnamese newspaper Hai Duong, MobiFone is investing in 5G infrastructure, but is also intending to share infrastructure with other operators to offer 5G services.
If nothing else, Mobifone aims to play a role in developing 5G use cases for Vietnam. Earlier this month, the telco signed an MoU with Ericsson to establish a 5G Innovation Hub that will provide a sandbox network for telcos and partners to collaborate on creating 5G applications.