Nokia said that the 5G project with Viettel will cover 22 provinces across the country
Finnish vendor Nokia announced that it has signed a new commercial deal with Vietnamese state-run telco Viettel Group to deploy 5G equipment for the first time nationwide in Vietnam.
In a release, the vendor stated that the new contract will lead to the deployment of 5G for the first time at a nationwide level in Vietnam.
The 5G project will cover 22 provinces across the country and support Viettel’s strategy of advancing 5G infrastructure and digital transformation, Nokia said.
Under the terms of the deal, Nokia will also modernize Viettel’s 4G infrastructure. The deployment is expected to begin this year.
The contract stipulates that Nokia will supply equipment from its 5G AirScale portfolio for the first time in Vietnam. This includes Nokia’s next-generation AirScale baseband solutions, Massive MIMO radios, and remote radio head products. The Nordic vendor noted that the deal also marks the first 5G network in Vietnam where the deployed products have also been locally manufactured.
Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia, said: “Nokia is proud to be Viettel Group’s principal partner in this critical digital transformation project that will lay the foundations for Vietnam’s future competitiveness. Nokia has been a part of Vietnam’s growth over the past three decades, and this initiative of enhancing local technology production continues to strengthen our bond with the country.”
In August, Viettel said it has successfully tested a 5G Standalone (5G SA) network, becoming the first domestic operator in Vietnam to do so after receiving a 5G frequency license from the Ministry of Information and Communications.
Viettel noted this standalone 5G network test was a “major step” towards its expected commercial deployment this year.
Viettel had also indicated that it is collaborating with key smartphone manufacturers in the Vietnamese market to update commercial firmware for devices supporting 5G SA.
In 2019, Viettel claimed to be the first operator in Vietnam to conduct a successful call on a 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) network.
Rival operators VNPT and MobiFone had also secured 5G frequencies for a future launch of 5G services.
