HANOI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications has just licensed Viettel and VNPT to offer 4G telecommunications services.
A 4G license is expected to be granted to the third Vietnamese telecoms firm, MobiFone, this month, the ministry's Radio Frequency Department said on Friday.
Military-run Viettel has offered 4G services on a trial basis in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau and Hanoi since late 2015, and VNPT, owner of VinaPhone network, has done the same in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern province of Kien Giang since early 2016.
Viettel said it has managed to produce 4G devices by itself, not having to import from foreign countries, and its future 4G services can include video one with HD 720p format in many localities nationwide.
By early September, Vietnam had signed up over 128.3 million mobile subscribers, including nearly 63.6 million subscribers of Viettel, over 34.6 million subscribers of MobiFone, more than 20.5 million subscribers of VinaPhone, nearly 5.9 million subscribers of GTel, and over 3.7 million subscribers of Vietnamobile, according to statistics from the ministry.
Dozens of millions of mobile subscribers, especially those in big cities, frequently use 3G services.
