A client registers for Indochina Telecom Co's service. — Photo vneconomy.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Authority of Telecommunications under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) revealed on Tuesday that a second mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) will soon debut in Việt Nam.

The seventh telecom provider in the country will be launched with a new prefix number and use the mobile phone infrastructure of the State-owned Việt Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), which boasts among the best coverage and quality in the country.

Việt Nam is one of the youngest MVNO markets in the world, with its first virtual operator - the Indochina Telecom Company (Itelecom) - launched in April this year.

A virtual network operator does not own network infrastructure but rather purchases telecommunications services from traditional mobile network operators (MNO) and resells network services after repackaging at lower prices.

The pioneering Itelecom has entered into an agreement with Vinaphone, a mobile subsidiary of VNPT, which gives it access to the company’s network services and allows it to offer its own. The prefix of its mobile service is 087.

In its initial phase, Itelecom is being introduced to workers at industrial zones in Hà Nội and HCM City, and provinces of Thái Nguyên, Vĩnh Phúc, Bắc Giang, Bắc Ninh, Bình Dương, Long An, and Đồng Nai.

According to MIC, a legal framework has been established for virtual telecommunications networks.

The MVNO model will help save investment costs for businesses and avoid any waste of social resources as unused traffic and infrastructure of MNOs can be exploited by carriers that do not have their own infrastructure, said Nguyễn Phong Nhã, deputy general director of the MIC’s Authority of Telecommunications. — VNS