With the widespread availability of mobile Internet and OTT services, recent years have seen a decline in the demand for mobile voice services. This trend was particularly evident during the 2025 Lunar New Year holiday.

Viettel, one of three biggest telecom carriers, told VietNamNet that during the 2025 Tet days, it witnessed voice traffic increase by 71 percent compared to ordinary days but decrease by 21 percent compared to the same period in 2024. 

Meanwhile, data traffic increased by 146 percent over ordinary days and by 7 percent year on year.

The five provinces with the highest number of Viettel subscribers during Tet were An Giang, Nghe An, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, and Thanh Hoa, a Viettel representative noted.

At bus stations and on roads, Viettel recorded a 15.6 percent decrease in voice traffic compared to the 2024 Lunar New Year, while data traffic remained stable. Compared to ordinary days, the voice traffic at these locations increased by 20 percent and data traffic by 6 percent.

As for shopping malls, Viettel reported a 35 percent decrease in voice traffic and an 18 percent decrease in data traffic compared to 2024.

Notably, Viettel found that the usage of telecommunications services at shopping malls during Lunar New Year was just the same as on ordinary days. Meanwhile, both voice and data traffic increased by 20 percent during the 2024 holiday season.

The decline in telecommunications service usage at shopping malls was attributed to tighter consumer spending and more online shopping.

VNPT (Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group), one of three biggest mobile network operators, has shown several differences.

"Voice traffic across VNPT's network on New Lunar Year's Eve increased by 14.97 percent compared to the previous Lunar New Year. The total data volume on that day decreased by 10.3 percent year on year," a VNPT representative said.

At the locations reserved for fireworks displays, such as Hoan Kiem Lake, West Lake (Hanoi), Nguyen Hue Street (HCM City), and Nguyen Van Troi Street (Da Nang), VNPT's signal stations saw traffic increase by approximately 200-300 percent compared to ordinary days.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, during the 2025 Lunar New Year, fixed broadband data traffic increased by an average of 18.3 percent compared to the 2024 New Lunar Year. However, mobile broadband data decreased by 2.5 percent, and both domestic and international voice traffic dropped by 17.2 percent. 

MIC indicated that the figures reflect a clear shift from voice services to data as users change from traditional phone calls to OTT messaging and video calls.

Van Anh