Vietel has provided travelling citizens with free wifi service at bus stations nationwide. — Photo news.zing.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Telecom giant Vietel has installed 17 wifi hotspots at bus stations nationwide to help travelling citizens access the Internet for free.

This continues the free wifi service it began providing at festivals and other major events since early this year.

More than 100 festivals are being held this National Day in 19 provinces around the country. At least 14 of them are expected to attract crowds of more than 10,000 people, including the Firework Festival in Thủ Thiêm Tunnel, HCM City, the Mộc Châu Love Fair in northern mountainous province of Sơn La, and boat races in the central provinces of Quảng Binh and Hà Tĩnh.

It is estimated that the number of people accessing the Net increases by 40 per cent during festivals and other holidays. Viettel says it began preparing for this National Day early in August, upgrading its infrastructure and improving service quality.

It upgraded 1,300 base transceiver stations (BTS), introduced many mobile BTS and installed 150 specially-designed antennas that can double the capacity of a normal BTS.

Viettel said it also made sure enough people were manning the network throughout the day. – VNS