Viettel has won one gold and four silver awards at the 2017 International Business Awards - Stevie Awards in various categories and for its operations in various countries.

The Gold Award went to Viettel’s Youtube fee package (in Cambodia, Peru and Tanzania) in the best Entertainment - Communication Product of the Year category.

Within six months of the package’s launch it had garnered over one million customers in the three countries by helping achieve a breakthrough in the consumption of entertainment on smartphones and saving 40 – 80 per cent cost when using data.

The four silver awards were for Fastest-Growing Company of the Year in Europe, Middle East and Africa for Halotel (Tanzania); Most Effective Marketing Campaign of the Year for Bitel (Peru); Best Customer Care Service of the Year for My Viettel application (Viet Nam); and Best Telecommunication Product of the Year for telecommunication secure solution (Viet Nam)

This is the first time that Halotel, Viettel’s Tanzanian operation, has won an international award.

Within three months of launching its mobile service in October 2015 Halotel had signed up one million subscribers, and after nine months doubled the figure, both records that no other international telecom service provider has ever achieved.

Halotel remains one of the fastest growing telecom companies in Tanzania. As of October 2017 it has over 3.5 million customers to rank fourth out of eight telecom companies in the country after surpassing some that have been in the business for over 10 years.

According to the Tanzanian Communication Regulatory Authority, the speed of growth of Halotel’s subscriber numbers in July and August surprised authorities after it signed up a full 50 per cent of the 427,500 new mobile customers.

When the country switched to a system of migrating between networks while retaining the mobile number in March 2017, Halotel attracted the highest proportion of customers wanting to switch, with around 1,000 from other networks joining it every month.

The company has the country’s largest telecom network with 2,500 base-transceiver stations and 18,000 km of optic-fibre cable and covering 90 per cent of the country. It was also the first to set up and provide mobile broadband connections to some 3,000 villages which had never enjoyed internet or mobile services until then.

Tanzania is now Viettel’s biggest overseas market with a population of 55 million and is also where it has made the biggest investment – worth US$800 million. Its investment in Tanzania was considered the best project in 2014 in Eastern, Western and Central Africa at the 2015 Global Investors Conference.

The International Business Awards – Stevie Awards is a leading global award given annually for achievements and contributions by enterprises and individuals that benefit the community, including in information technology and telecommunication.

To win, candidates must persuade 200 examiners, all famous CEOs or entrepreneurs. The name “Stevie” comes from Stephen, which is Greek for “Crowned”. – VNS