First 5G video call made in Vietnam with locally produced equipment

Minister of Information & Communications Nguyen Manh Hung and Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh on January 17 made the first video call on fifth-generation (5G) mobile network, using a transceiver gNodeB developed by a local telecom carrier, VnExpress reported.

This device was researched and produced by the Military Telecommunications Industry Group (Viettel), Vietnam’s largest mobile operator, between June and December last year.

Minister of Information & Communications Nguyen Manh Hung and Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh try calling each other with 5G video on a made-in-Vietnam device. Photo: H.T

The call was rated as successful with no delays in connection, lagging audio or choppy video reported.

Viettel's engineering team developed gNodeB 5G equipment system based on its experience from the development of BTS (base transceiver station) for 4G - eNodeB and 5G pre-feasibility research.

With this success, Viettel has become the world’s sixth 5G equipment producer, besides Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Samsung and ZTE.

Among the above-mentioned suppliers, only Viettel is both a telecommunications operator and a manufacturer of network equipment.

"The design and production of 5G devices will help Viettel take the initiative in deploying 5G for its mobile networks and value-added services, in order to create the best 5G experiences for users," a representative of Viettel Group said.

Earlier, in May 2019, Hanoi-based Telecom Industry Group under Viettel piloted the first call on 5G mobile network in Vietnam, but with imported equipment from Sweden's Ericsson, which is a partner with Viettel in piloting 5G network.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said at that time that Vietnam wanted to develop ICT, so that Vietnamese people and businesses could compete in the global economy.

He once affirmed that 5G is an opportunity for Vietnam to improve its competitiveness rankings in the world.