Vietnam - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Even with Covid-19 pandemic-related mobility restrictions in place, Vietnam's economy has continued to outperform the rest of the region in 2020 and 2021. Nevertheless, the telecom sector essentially spent most of this period in a holding pattern, focusing on maintaining service throughout the crisis while preparing for some major changes to come in the mobile market in 2022.

Both fixed-line telephony and mobile have experienced small drops in subscriber numbers since the start of the pandemic, but the similarities between the two markets end there. Fixed-line teledensity continued its downwards trajectory towards virtual oblivion, with just 3% penetration (around 3 million subscribers) at the start of 2021. The mobile market has lost about the same number of subscribers since the end of 2019, but has been sitting on much higher penetration levels around 130% for many years. Growth is expected to kick in again in 2022 following the anticipated launch of commercial 5G mobile services along with a range of government-led schemes to move consumers completely off 2G and 3G.

One example is the planned redistribution of GSM/3G bandwidth to LTE. In addition to propelling Vietnam into having one of the most advanced mobile markets in the world, this should also spur on the mobile broadband segment. With a penetration level of just over 70%, mobile broadband has considerable room to grow. Increasing economic prosperity coupled with the latest smartphone technology and networks should see mobile broadband underwriting the country's telecommunications sector for at least the next few years.

This report includes the regulator's market data to July 2021, telcos' financial and operating data updates to June 2021, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sector, and other recent market developments.

Key developments:

Government plans to shut GSM and 3G networks, and redistribute spectrum to 4G LTE and 5G services.

Viettel achieves a record data transmission speed of 4.7Gb/s in 5G trials.

Viettel, VNPT, and Mobifone agree to trial 5G network sharing and data roaming.

Viettel develops a national immunisation management platform, while the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) launches a digital vaccine certification system for international visitors and workers.

Reddi becomes Vietnam's second MVNO, using VNPT's network.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT), Viettel, Vinaphone, Mobifone, Vietnamobile, GTel, GMobile, FPT Telecom, Itelecom, Reddi.

Key statistics

Regional Asia market comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI vs GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview

Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Economic considerations and responses
Subscribers
Infrastructure

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Regulatory authorities
- Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)
- Vietnam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA)
Mobile network developments
- Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Mobile market

Mobile infrastructure
- 5G
- 4G / LTE
- 3G
- GSM
- NB-IoT
Mobile broadband
Major mobile operators
- Viettel
- MobiFone
- VNPT-Vinaphone
- Vietnamobile
- GMobile
- Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

Fixed-line broadband market

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
Wi-Fi

Fixed network market

Vietnam Post & Telecommunications (VNPT)
Viettel
FPT Telecom
GTel

Telecommunications infrastructure

Domestic infrastructure
International infrastructure
- Submarine cables
- Satellite networks

Data centres

Digital economy

e-Government
e-Health
e-Education
Smart Meters
Smart Cities
Technology parks/IT focus areas

Appendix - Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 - Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Vietnam- 2021 (e)
Table 2 - Telecom revenue by sector ($ million) - 2009 - 2019
Table 3 - Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
Table 4 - Change in the number of mobile subscribers by prepaid and contract (million) - 2015 - 2021
Table 5 - Mobile coverage by technology - 2015 - 2020
Table 6 - Change in the number of mobile subscribers by technology (million) - 2015 - 2021
Table 7 - Change in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
Table 8 - Mobile market share of subscribers by operator - 2013 - 2019
Table 9 - Change in the number of Vietnamobile's mobile subscribers - 2011 - 2019
Table 10 - Development of Vietnamobile's financial data (HK$ million) - 2017 - 2021
Table 11 - Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
Table 12 - Proportion of fixed broadband connections by platform - 2015 - 2021
Table 13 - Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by access speed - 2015 - 2020
Table 14 - Change in the number of fixed line subscriptions and teledensity - 2011 - 2026
Table 15 - Development of VNPT's financial data (VND billion) - 2015 - 2019
Table 16 - International internet bandwidth - 2011 - 2020
Table 17 - Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration - 1995 - 2010
Table 18 - Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration - 2007 - 2010
Table 19 - Historic - Fixed line subscriptions and penetration - 2007 - 2010
Table 20 - Historic - Internet users and penetration - 1998 - 2010
Table 21 - Historic - MobiFone's mobile subscribers - 2007 - 2016
Table 22 - Historic - VNPT - Vinaphone mobile subscribers - 2007 - 2014
Table 23 - Historic - Viettel's mobile subscribers - 2007 - 2014
Table 24 - Historic - GMobile mobile subscribers - 2009 - 2011
Table 25 - Historic - Change in the number of Vietnamobile's mobile subscribers - 2007 - 2010
Table 26 - Historic - Growth in the number of FttX subscribers - 2008 - 2010

List of Charts

Chart 1 - Asia Telecoms Maturity Index - Market Leaders
Chart 2 - Asia Telecoms Maturity Index - Market Challengers
Chart 3 - Asia Telecoms Maturity Index - Market Emergents
Chart 4 - Asia - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 - Asia - Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 - South East Asia - Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 - South East Asia - Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 - Telecom revenue by sector - 2009 - 2019
Chart 9 - Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
Chart 10 - Change in the number of mobile subscribers by prepaid and contract - 2015 - 2021
Chart 11 - Mobile coverage by technology - 2015 - 2020
Chart 12 - Change in the number of mobile subscribers by technology - 2015 - 2021
Chart 13 - Change in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
Chart 14 - Mobile market share of subscribers by operator - 2013 - 2019
Chart 15 - Change in the number of Vietnamobile's mobile subscribers - 2011 - 2019
Chart 16 - Development of Vietnamobile's financial data - 2017 - 2021
Chart 17 - Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
Chart 18 - Proportion of fixed broadband connections by platform - 2015 - 2021
Chart 19 - Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by access speed - 2015 - 2020
Chart 20 - Change in the number of fixed line subscriptions and teledensity - 2011 - 2026
Chart 21 - Development of VNPT's financial data - 2015 - 2019
Chart 22 - International internet bandwidth - 2011 - 2020

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 - Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Asia
Exhibit 2 - Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 - Asia - Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 - Asia - Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 - Asia - Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 - MIC's assigned policy and regulatory responsibilities
Exhibit 7 - Vietnam - Data Centres

Vietnam - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Description

Table of Contents

List of Tables

Vietnam awaits 2022 to surge ahead with mobile broadband

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Table of Contents

Key statistics

Regional Asia market comparison

Country overview

Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Fixed network market

Telecommunications infrastructure

Data centres

Digital economy

Appendix - Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

List of Tables

List of Charts

List of Exhibits