Vietnam grants 4G licenses to three cellcos

Vietnam has granted 4G licenses to three of the market’s major mobile operators – MobiFone, military-run Viettel and state-owned VNPT.

The operators have been granted permission to roll out LTE services over the 1800-MHz band.

Each of the three operators have been piloting LTE and LTE-Advanced services in multiple cities, with Viettel launching a trial in late 2015, VNPT testing services since January this year and MobiFone commencing a pilot in July.

The licenses will be allocated as part of Vietnam’s government-approved telecommunications development plan, which includes a target of covering 95% of the population with 3G and 4G services by 2020 as part of efforts to ensure nationwide coverage of broadband infrastructure.

According to the report, major operators have indicated they will be ready to launch LTE soon after receiving the licenses. They will be valid until 2024.