VietNamNet Bridge - The year 2016 is expected to be the ‘year of 4G’ as telecom groups hope they will receive official operation licenses for providing 4G. Mobile phone manufacturers plan to begin marketing models with 4G support. 

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Meanwhile, users will become familiar with 4G services.

Qualcomm’s Indochina Director Thieu Phuong Nam believes that in the future, 4G LTE will act as the catalyst for socio-economic growth by serving as the platform for new services which can bring benefits to mobile ecosystems and users as well. 

The government of Vietnam, aware of the strong rise of mobile apps and the importance of 4G technology in the local industry, has given considerable support to help boost 4G services in Vietnam.

It has completed the process of arranging 1800 MHz frequency band for 4G, paving the way for Vietnamese telecom groups to provide 4G.

The year 2016 is expected to be the ‘year of 4G’ as telecom groups hope they will receive official operation licenses for providing 4G.
Most recently, Viettel has tried 4G in Vung Tau City as scheduled with 200 BTS (base transceiver stations) set up in the city. VinaPhone has tested 4G in HCM City. 

MobiFone is moving ahead with its trial plan after getting the nod from the watchdog agency. Meanwhile, FPT Telecom has asked for permission to deploy 4G.

VinaPhone, while affirming it would begin providing 4G commercial services soon, said it plans to collect service fees based on service value, not on the capacity customers use.

Meanwhile, terminal device manufacturers have geared up for the ‘4G revolution. 

Dang Quoc Cuong, marketing director of OPPO Vietnam, said the manufacturer wants to sell 3 million smartphone products in the Vietnamese market this year, 60 of which have support for 4G.

“4G will be a growing tendency in Vietnam in the near future when network operators begin providing 4G,” he explained.

“The deployment of 4G would warm up the Vietnamese market,” he said.

Meanwhile, mobile network operators, though affirming that 2016 would ‘hinge’ on 4G, said that 4G is still far from booming in Vietnam because the service is not yet fully ready, while the prices of terminal devices remain high.

To Manh Cuong, deputy CEO of VNPT, which runs VinaPhone, said 4G commercial services have not been licensed so far. If everything goes smoothly, mobile network operators begin providing services at the end of 2016.

“2016 will be an important year for telcos to deploy 4G,” he said.

According to Ho Chi Dung, Technology Director of Viettel, about 10 percent of mobile phone users use 4G service, while the terminal devices needed to use 4G cost about $100.

Dung thinks 4G will see a boom only when 4G devices’ prices fall to $50, saying he does not think the price would drop to this level this year.


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