In a significant leap for Vietnam’s telecommunications landscape, Viettel has announced the launch of the nation’s first Open RAN (O-RAN) 5G network, powered by Qualcomm Technologies’ advanced 5G RAN platforms. This milestone is momentous not only as a technological advancement for the country but also as an effort to elevate Viettel on the global stage. Viettel aims to deploy more than 300 5G sites across various provinces by early 2025, thereby setting the stage for comprehensive national coverage and ambitious international expansions.
Central to this deployment are Qualcomm’s cutting-edge technologies, including the Qualcomm X100 5G RAN platform, which is crucial for virtualized distributed units (vDUs), and the QRU100 5G RAN platform, which enables Massive MIMO radio units. The initial installations have already been completed in Ha Noi and Ha Nam, where the network is being optimized using Qualcomm’s Edgewise Suite. This approach is particularly noteworthy for its utilization of inline accelerators, which streamline processes and reduce operational costs, while also ensuring enhanced energy efficiency. Notably, these components adhere strictly to O-RAN Alliance standards, promising a more efficient and standardized network that will benefit a wide array of users.
Viettel’s 5G solutions are designed to cater to both public and private sectors, encompassing core network structures as well as Radio Access Network (RAN) elements. The company’s CEO, Nguyen Vu Ha, has emphasized the pivotal role played by Qualcomm in achieving the technological maturity necessary for this project. In parallel, Viettel has also formed a strategic partnership with Nokia to bolster a nationwide 5G rollout across 22 provinces. This collaboration involves not only upgrading existing 4G infrastructure but also deploying state-of-the-art 5G equipment from Nokia’s AirScale portfolio.
The new 5G service by Viettel promises data speeds reaching up to 1 Gbps, which will be accessible across all 63 localities in Vietnam. These advancements are set to facilitate a myriad of applications, including smart cities, industrial production, healthcare, and beyond. Ultimately, Viettel’s deployment of the O-RAN 5G network marks a monumental leap forward for Vietnam’s telecom industry, ensuring unprecedented network efficiency and opening up diverse opportunities across multiple sectors.