Vietnam Shuts Down 2G Network as Viettel Migrates Millions to 4G
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Vietnam completed its nationwide 2G network shutdown on September 15, 2026, ending legacy service for an initial base of 18.2 million older connections. The migration clears radio spectrum across the country for faster data services.
State operator Viettel handled the bulk of the transition, moving nearly 8.6 million subscribers onto 4G and 5G voice services between January and September 2026. The carrier reduced its remaining unmigrated voice cohort from 9.3 million users at the close of 2025 to 750,000 by the deadline, bringing 99 per cent of its customer base onto modern data and voice protocols.
Hardware Subsidies and Village Outreaches
Getting users off legacy networks required cheap replacement handsets. Low-income subscribers in rural provinces faced steep replacement costs for smartphones, prompting Viettel to market basic 4G feature phones starting at 200,000 VND with handset trade-in options.
State funds filled the remaining equipment deficit. The carrier worked with the Vietnam Public-Utility Telecommunications Service Fund to distribute 400,000 4G handsets directly to low-income families and welfare beneficiaries. Viettel deployed field teams into remote communes alongside municipal digital task forces, swapping SIM cards manually and training older users on the new devices.
The Regional Playbook on Spectrum Retirement
Phasing out 2G has stalled across emerging markets where low-cost hardware remains scarce. In India, Reliance Jio urged regulators in early 2024 to establish a concrete switch-off timetable, yet roughly 250 million Indian users remained bound to 2G feature phones without a mandatory national deadline. South Africa delayed its initial June 2024 termination target to late 2027 after retail point-of-sale card terminals, security alarms and fleet tracking hardware failed to switch in time. Even Britain extended its decommissioning window through 2033 to protect 12 million legacy utility smart meters.
“Even Britain extended its decommissioning window through 2033 to protect 12 million legacy utility smart meters.”
Vietnam bypassed these extended delays by enforcing a split transition. Regulators barred network access for 2G-only mobile phones in October 2024 while allowing machine-to-machine hardware and devices lacking voice-over-LTE capabilities to operate temporarily on secondary bands. That phased policy gave enterprise fleet managers and utility operators a two-year buffer to retool automated hardware without blocking consumer spectrum reclamation.
Infrastructure Buildout Across Rural Communes
Carriers had to expand rural coverage before switching off old transmitters. Viettel added more than 6,000 4G base stations across interior provinces, raising its 4G population coverage to 99.7 per cent and connecting four million people in isolated settlements.
Network operators secured vital transmission capacity through government spectrum auctions. Viettel secured rights to the 900MHz spectrum band, using the low-frequency band to project wide-area 4G and 5G coverage across mountainous terrain where higher frequencies fail to penetrate.
Network Expansion and the 5G Target
The transition resolves a prolonged upgrade cycle that started when Vietnam surpassed 100 per cent mobile penetration in 2009. The country counted 110.5 million mobile internet subscriptions as the switch-off concluded, though infrastructure imbalances persisted across isolated districts. The Ministry of Science and Technology has separately targeted 273 rural villages that still lack dependable reception to eliminate regional coverage holes.
Carrier investments now turn entirely to high-band cellular deployment. Viettel is installing 20,000 additional 5G base stations using freed transmission spectrum, aiming to reach 50,000 total 5G sites and 97 per cent national population coverage by the end of 2026.