On November 30, 2020, in Hanoi, the Military Industry and Telecommunications Group Viettel officially launched its 5G trial business, becoming the earliest network provider to offer 5G services to customers after a technical trial period.
Hanoi has the largest number of 5G base stations from Viettel to date. On the 5G network infrastructure, Viettel uses both imported equipment and equipment that it has developed and manufactured.
Customers using 5G devices in some central areas of Hoan Kiem District, Ba Dinh District, and Hai Ba Trung District can immediately experience 5G without needing to upgrade their SIM cards.
Notably, during the trial period, Viettel offers unlimited 5G data for free.
The current measured speed of Viettel’s 5G network is 1.2-1.5 Gbps, which means customers can download a 90-minute HD movie in just 30 seconds, dozens of times faster than 4G, allowing for live sports viewing or playing high-graphic online games without latency compared to real-time experience. Thus, AR/VR applications such as virtual travel and virtual shopping will boom thanks to 5G.
5G also plays a vital role in healthcare, enabling remote surgeries in Vietnam.
Before the 5G service launch event in Hanoi, on September 21, 2019, Viettel announced the trial broadcast of 5G in Ho Chi Minh City and deployed IoT connectivity infrastructure with a scale of 1,000 NB-IoT stations covering 100% of Ho Chi Minh City. Subsequently, on January 17, 2020, Viettel made the first 5G call using 5G transmission equipment developed and manufactured by itself.