Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh (left) and Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung (right) make a call on January 17 with a Viettel-made 5G device. — Photo courtesy of Viettel

Viet Nam’s telecom firm Viettel announced it is the 6th company in the world to manufacture 5G devices.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung and Minister of Science and Technology (MoST) Chu Ngoc Anh made the first video call with Viettel's gNodeB transceiver in Ha Noi on Friday.

The gNodeB transceiver made by Viettel includes both software and hardware. The device was developed in six months, starting in June 2019.

Last April the carrier used a foreign-made device to make a call via the 5G network. Now, after 8 months, Viettel has helped Viet Nam master 5G technology.

According to Viettel, it is now the sixth provider of 5G devices globally. Others include Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Samsung and ZTE.

As the Government of Viet Nam sets a goal to go digital, Viettel general director Le Dang Dung said: “The 5G network will determine the success of the digital economy,” adding that: “Many countries are using 5G services to strengthen their science-technology position on the global market and develop their economies.”

Dung said: "It’s why Viettel considers 5G to be the most strategic project of the group.”

Attending the event, MoST minister Anh said the move “is a very rare opportunity, creating a R&D platform for Viet Nam to develop further.”

Viettel said it will start commercialising the devices by June this year and produce the devices on a large scale a year later.

Viettel expected to build civil and military products on the ‘5G technology ecosystem’ developed and manufactured in Viet Nam. Currently, Viettel has more than 110 million customers in eleven countries. — VNS