Vietnam’s biggest telecoms company will launch commercial 5G services this year, bypassing China’s Huawei and using technology it has developed itself, underscoring tensions between the two countries.
State-owned Viettel, which is operated by the country’s ministry of defence, will begin deploying the next generation mobile network technology from June and complete nationwide deployment a year later.
The company announced the plan on Friday after conducting its first trial video call using a connection on equipment produced internally. Viettel said it took six months for its research and development arm, Viettel High Technology, to develop the hardware and software needed to make the call.