Viettel, one of three biggest network providers in Viet Nam, has asked the Ministry of Information and Communications for permission to raise its fees for 3G services.  — VNS Photo Truong Vi

LTE, or long-term evolution, marketed as 4G LTE, is the term for the wireless communication of high-speed data used by mobile phones and data terminals.

According to the Radio Frequency Department at the Ministry of Information and Communications, the waveband to be chosen for LTE 4G in Viet Nam needs to meet a number of specific requirements.

It needs to be used and supported by many countries and more importantly it needs to be compatible with RiPE technology, which is affordable to most Vietnamese users.

The Radio Frequency Department ‘s Deputy Director Le Van Tuan stressed that the globally popular wave band would be a good choice and allow for development.

Tuan said that Viet Nam has several choices including the 700MHz waveband, which will be available after the radio and television network is reprogrammed.

The wavebands now being used for GSM networks (CDMA 850 MHz, GSM 900 MHz, 1800 MHz) would also be suitable, as would the new wavebands such as 2 GHz or 1.5 GHz.

Tuan added that now is the right time for Viet Nam to prepare a waveband for broadband mobile use in the near future, as this is growing rapidly around the world.

The radio frequency department thinks that wavebands that cover larger areas would be more important, such as 2 GHz or 1.5 GHz.

However, the department has not made its final decision, because it still needs to take a number of other factors into consideration, including the frequency's popularity around the world.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, the Ministry of Information and Communications said that it did not intend to encourage the immediate application of 4G technology to safeguard mobile network operators.

The ministry said it would delay licencing mobile operators who want to provide fourth generation network (4G) services, at least until 2015, after the service providers had completed test runs and an assessment of market demand for the new technology has been made.

Five mobile operators have already been allowed to run basic 4G trials since 2010. 4G promises to ensure much faster mobile and internet connections than the 3G network.

The Vietnamese telecommunications market has grown rapidly. However, the market is still controlled by the big three network providers, Viettel, Mobifone and Vinafone, with a total annual turnover of US$5.5 billion.

Meanwhile a ministry spokesperson said in March that as demand for 3G in Viet Nam is still low compared to the global average, it was not a good time to provide the next generation technology. Adding that "If the number of 3G subscribers sees a 100 per cent growth rate each year from now to 2015, then we would consider granting licences to mobile operators."

Mobile operator Viettel on Monday officially asked the Ministry of Information and Communications for permission to raise its fees for 3G services, as the current fee structure does not even cover their production costs.

Viettel's Deputy General Director Tong Viet Trung said that the numbers of 3G subscribers had risen dramatically, backed by the increasing popularity of smartphones.

"At the beginning, we set a low 3G tarriff to attract subscribers to fill the networks bandwidth, but as the number of users has now increased substantially, we now have to raise our prices as the current tariffs are simply too low," said Trung.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, Viet Nam has around 20 million 3G subscribers out of over 130 million mobile phone users. — VNS