Viettel completes Vietnam’s first 5G call

Vietnamese military-run operator Viettel has completed the nation’s first 5G call in collaboration with Ericsson.

During the trial, conducted as part of Viettel’s ongoing 5G technical testing program, the companies achieved a downlink speed of 1.5Gbps to 1.7Gbps.

The Vietnamese government has been pushing for Vietnam to become one of the world’s early 5G adopters to help ensure the nation is at the forefront of the Industry 4.0 revolution.

As part of these efforts, the government aims to ensure Viettel and other providers cover 5G in all of Vietnam’s high-tech zones, national innovation centers and smart factory areas by 2020.

Viettel commenced deployment of Vietnam’s first 5G base stations in April as part of these trial efforts.

The operator plans to test 70 5G base stations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in June in preparation for larger-scale deployment.