Viettel successfully deployed the first standalone 5G network in Vietnam

DNHN - Viettel's deployment of a standalone 5G network promises to offer a variety of attractive services for both individual and enterprise customers.

On August 19, 2024, Viettel Telecom officially announced the successful deployment of the first standalone 5G (SA) network in Vietnam. This is a significant breakthrough, not only marking the official launch of commercial 5G services but also as a highlight event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Viettel entering the mobile service market (October 15, 2004 - October 15, 2024).

In just over three months since being granted a frequency license for commercial 5G services by the Ministry of Information and Communications, Viettel became the first network operator in Vietnam to successfully deploy a standalone 5G network. Unlike the Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G network, which depends on 4G infrastructure, the standalone 5G network is entirely independent, offering greater flexibility, better scalability, and support for many new services.

Viettel's deployment of a standalone 5G network promises to offer a variety of attractive services for both individual and enterprise customers, including:

- A group of high-speed data services, smart calls on 5G SA with automatic language translation and subtitle display features...

- Quality on Demand service is a pay-per-service package that allows customers to flexibly choose different service quality levels at desired times. Customers can actively choose to prioritize high speed, low latency... according to their needs.

- 5G Fixed Wireless Access (5G FWA): Users are provided with high-speed Internet services on the 5G network, which can replace current household fiber optic Internet services.

- Private Mobile Network service (5G Private Mobile Network): A service that shares infrastructure with the public network thanks to the network slicing feature, allowing flexible use of network resources and reducing costs for customers. Private mobile networks offer advantages such as high security, low latency, and the ability to support a large number of connections, making them suitable for enterprise needs in factories, industrial zones, ports...

Viettel also provides development protocols according to open standards, allowing software companies to directly utilize 5G infrastructure to create new business services. This is an important step in the transition from traditional telecommunications models to platforms that drive innovation and creativity.

To successfully deploy the standalone 5G network, Viettel has made significant investments in new core network systems and faced major challenges in configuring these systems to connect with radio equipment while ensuring compliance with 5G standards. Globally, network operators typically take 1 to 2 years to complete the deployment of commercial standalone 5G networks, but Viettel has significantly shortened this time.

With the success of the standalone 5G network, Viettel not only reaffirms its pioneering position in the telecommunications industry in Vietnam but also opens a new future for high-tech services, meeting the increasingly diverse needs of customers.

According to a report by GSA, as of the end of Q1 2024, only about 58 countries had successfully tested standalone 5G out of a total of 175 countries that had commercialized or tested 5G. The main reason is the difficulty and complexity of deploying standalone 5G networks compared to NSA 5G.

Viettel is currently continuing to work closely with major smartphone brands widely popular in the Vietnamese market such as Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo... to upgrade commercial firmware for smartphones supporting standalone 5G networks, with the goal of providing the most advanced 5G network to customers at the time of launch.

In another move, Viettel recently signed a cooperation agreement with Supermicro (USA) to develop 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

Accordingly, Viettel and Supermicro will cooperate on global solutions, aiming to create significant value and elevate service quality for customers. In the field of 5G research and development, Viettel and Supermicro will collaborate to develop 5G solutions, including software and hardware. In the cloud computing sector, Viettel will provide software while Supermicro will supply hardware to develop Private Cloud solutions for customers.

Viettel and Supermicro are committed to jointly developing high-performance, energy-efficient server solutions suitable for various customer groups; applying AI to enhance telecommunications quality, data centers, and business processes. The partnership between Viettel and Supermicro is expected to promote and comprehensively deploy 5G networks across Vietnam.

Ha Anh