The launch ceremony of Viettel Telecom's 5G network in Hà Nội on Tuesday. The telecommunications company is the first in Việt Nam to offer 5G services. — Photo courtersy of Viettel Telecom

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s leading telecommunications company Viettel Telecom became the first network provider to officially launch a 5G network on Tuesday, marking their 20 years of operations.

The network had been in development since 2019 and has been dry run tested since August.

So far it consists of 6,500 base transceiver stations, covering 63 cities and provinces across the country, including distant areas such as seaports and some tourism sites.

It is ten times faster than the predecessor 4G network, with delay in the time taken to transfer data across the network – known as network latency – nearly non-existent.

Nineteen 5G mobile packages are on offer to individual customers, including 11 pre-paid.

Each package comes with online data storage and data to be used on Viettel’s entertainment platform, TV360.

The company has also launched a shopping portal at hub.vietteltelecom.vn (only in Vietnamese language so far) to help customers buy 5G packages that suit their needs.

Customers who own 5G-enabled phones can use the services immediately without having to change their SIM cards.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Viettel Telecom's general director Cao Anh Sơn said: “With the 2G network Viettel's aspiration was for each person to own a mobile phone, with 4G it was for each person to own a smartphone.

“Then with 5G we aim for each person to own a super-fast, super-connected smartphone, to apply technology to solve major social problems and to contribute to building a digital society and a smart era for Việt Nam.” — VNS