Top telcos have now deployed 11,000 5G base stations, delivering 5G coverage to nearly 26% of the Vietnamese population
In sum, what to know:
Infra expansion – Vietnamese carriers have deployed 11,000 5G base stations, now reaching 26% of the population, with tens of thousands more BTS units planned for 2025.
Growth targets – Viettel aims to reach 10M 5G users; VNPT and MobiFone are expanding coverage in cities, industrial zones and targeting commune-level access.
Strategy shift – Experts urge operators to adopt sustainable 5G business models, invest in 5G SA and grow B2B and mid-band services to fully unlock network value.
Vietnamese telecom operators are accelerating 5G infrastructure rollouts and service adoption nationwide, with nearly 11,000 5G base stations across Vietnam, local press reported, citing information from the Authority of Radio Frequency Management. The deployments made by the country’s top three carriers — Viettel, VNPT, MobiFone — now span all provinces and cities, reaching about 26% of the Vietnamese population.
State-run telco Viettel, with over six million 5G subscribers, aims to reach a total of 10 million by year-end and install 20,000 more 5G base stations, boosting transmission speeds by more than 2.5 times. VNPT has expanded 5G to key industrial and political hubs, with VinaPhone reaching over 3 million active users in the 5G field.
Menwhile, MobiFone has concentrated on cities and provincial centers, reporting 2.5 million 5G users and aiming to add 10,000 new base stations to achieve full commune-level coverage. Despite this progress, challenges remain.
Doan Quang Hoan, vice chairman and general secretary of the Radio and Electronics Association of Vietnam (REV), observed that nationwide 5G development has yet to gain sufficient momentum. He noted that the 5G network primarily caters to urban users seeking advanced digital experiences, while many organizations and consumers continue to rely on 4G networks.
Earlier this year, Viettel secured a 700 MHz spectrum block for VND1.95 trillion ($75.2 million), a frequency band the government has been attempting to auction for the past several years. The license is valid for 15 years and will be used to support both 4G and 5G connectivity, including IoT applications such as smart cities, precision agriculture and intelligent transportation systems.
After securing the new frequencies, the Vietnamese telco highlighted the advantages of the 700 MHz band, particularly its wide propagation range, which enables better indoor coverage in dense urban environments and cost-effective expansion into rural, mountainous, and remote areas. It said that the newly acquired spectrum will support its goal of reaching 99% population coverage across Vietnam by 2030. Viettel also plans to deploy over 20,000 5G base stations during 2025.
Despite multiple attempts by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) to auction the band — most recently in February — prior efforts have failed due to a lack of qualified bidders. Viettel had participated in all three previous attempts to auction this spectrum.
With the B2-B2′ block now awarded, two additional blocks remain unclaimed: the B1-B1′ block (703–713 MHz and 758–768 MHz) and the B3-B3′ block (723–733 MHz and 778–788 MHz).
Viettel has established two 5G laboratories in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. These facilities enable developers to test applications and address challenges such as signal interference or protocol mismatches, ensuring that new IoT and 5G technologies are well-suited for the Vietnamese market.
In October 2024, Viettel had launched what it claimed to be Vietnam’s first commercial 5G service. At the time of the launch, Viettel said it had deployed network infrastructure to provide 5G services to all 63 localities in Vietnam, focusing in particular on tourism sites, seaports, airports, industrial parks, hospitals and schools.
Rival operator VNPT launched 5G services in December 2024, while MobiFone has officially launched its 5G mobile services in March 2025. MobiFone’s 5G service operates on the 3.8-3.9GHz frequency band, utilizing both 5G NSA and 5G SA architectures.
