Vietnam’s military-run telecom giant Viettel Military Industry and Telecom Group (Viettel) has recently launched the country’s first 5G network and put into operation the infrastructure of Internet of Things (IoT) in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), local media reported.Viettel’s Deputy General Director Tao Duc Thang said that the pilot operation of 5G in HCMC is an important milestone in Viettel’s strategy to make Vietnam one of the first countries in the world to commercialize 5G services.
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The firm also officially put into use 1,000 transmission stations to create a coverage area connecting millions of IoT devices, i.e narrow-band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), thus supporting all social activities such as transportation, electricity, water, applications and services.
With the move, HCMC has become the first locality in Vietnam to enjoy 5G service and large-scale IoT coverage.
Currently, HCMC has nearly 9,000 telecom transmission stations, more than 17 million mobile phone subscribers, including over eight million users of 3G and 4G services. In the first six months of 2019, the city's electronics – information technology industry grew by over 28%, four times higher than this sector’s average growth.
Viettel plans to launch NB-IoT coverage in Hanoi this month, and expand to all localities nationwide in the next two years.
Viettel installed the first 5G station in Hanoi early this year and made the first 5G phone call in May. It was the first firm in the country to receive permission to pilot 5G services in January, followed by MobiFone.
Last November, Information and Communication Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said at a conference that Vietnam should pilot 5G in 2019 and ensure nationwide coverage by 2020.
The operation of this first station in HCMC also marks the first time that Viettel has exploited the Telco Cloud, a virtualized telecom infrastructure to run digital services and expedite operations. This will help the company build the whole core network for the 5G technology.
