The GSMA’s NB-IoT global map. — Photo courtesy of Viettel

Viettel is among only 50 telecom companies in the world to successfully deploy the narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), a technology developed for devices supporting IoT connectivity.

The announcement was made by the Global System Mobile Association (GSMA) before the 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, today.

In December Viettel successfully activated the first 30 base transceiver stations (BTSs) in Ha Noi with the platform set to offer services using NB-IoT technology.

The IoT infrastructure and platform will be ready for customers in Ha Noi and HCM City in the first quarter of 2019 before the company invests elsewhere in Viet Nam and overseas.

Viettel is now also testing some applications based on IoT connectivity and infrastructure, such as smart parking, air monitoring, location tracking, and metering devices, creating the basis for developing and exploiting an IoT services ecosystem in future.

Having nearly 40,000 4G BTSs around the country is a major advantage for Viettel.

Tao Duc Thang, the company’s deputy general director, said Viettel was determined to be a pioneer in Industry 4.0 in Viet Nam.

“The concept of ‘customer’ has been expanded to include not just people but all stakeholders.

“Under this definition, the number of customers is in the billions. The deployment of IoT demonstrates the realisation of Viettel’s mission, our commitment, our efforts for a smarter society, a more modern Viet Nam.”

Viettel is ranked among the 15 largest telecom companies in the world in terms of subscribers and the top 40 in terms of revenues.

It has invested in 10 foreign markets with a total population of 240 million in Asia, Africa and the Americas.

It aims to expand to cover a population of 400-500 million and become one of the world’s 10 largest telecoms firms by 2020. — VNS