Vietnam’s smallest operator acquires 100MHz of 3.8GHz spectrum and will build out in unspecified network sharing model.
State-owned MobiFone Corp has become the third operator in Vietnam to acquire 5G spectrum. The company, Vietnam’s smallest operator, has been awarded 100MHz spectrum in the 3.8GHz band, or C3, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reports.
The C3 band had not even been put up for sale at the previous Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) auction in March because of a lack of bidders, officials said.
Rivals Viettel and Vinaphone each acquired 100MHz 5G frequencies in the March auction, with Viettel obtaining 2.5GHz band spectrum after 24 rounds of bidding and Vinaphone 3.7GHz spectrum after 17 rounds.
The MIC did not reveal the total MobiFone paid for its 5G spectrum, but said the starting price was $112.5 million, with increments of 25 billion Vietnamese dong (US$982,750).
Nguyen Huy Dung, deputy MIC head, said the 5G auction had increased Vietnam’s total allocated spectrum to 640 MHz, making it fourth among the ten countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The prospect of a new 5G market with 138 million active subscribers may have quickened the pulses of the beleaguered vendor community, but prospects could be limited by the plan to share infrastructure between the operators. However, it’s not clear just what model is envisaged.
Huawei 5G innovation center
It doesn’t help that the biggest telco, the military-owned Viettel, is in the carrier equipment business itself. It is unique among telecom operators today in making 4G and 5G kit, private network solutions and 5G chipsets.
Huawei is a player, too, despite the often-frosty relationship between Vietnam and its giant northern neighbor. It has announced plans to build a 5G innovation center to support the rollout and seems a good bet to pick up some new business.
Under a draft plan just approved by the MIC, 5G coverage is targeted to reach all of Vietnam’s provinces and cities by 2025. In particular, it is required to deploy in high-tech zones, R&D centers, industrial parks, airports, and sea ports.
The plan also aims to achieve 100% mobile broadband coverage along railways and highways by 2025.
Related to this, the MIC has decreed that 2G networks must shut down by September 2026. Telcos will not be permitted to add new customers from September 16, 2024, and will be given two years to transfer customers onto their 4G or 5G networks.
Vietnam had 15 million 2G subscribers as of September 2023, MIC said.
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