--- title: Viettel subsidises 4G feature phones for 700k 2G subscribers - Developing Telecoms description: Vietnamese telco Viettel reportedly plans to give away 4G feature phones to 700,000 of its 2G-only subscribers to encourage them to migrate to 4G as the government’s delayed shutdown of 2G draws near. canonical_url: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news/17345-viettel-subsidises-4g-feature-phones-for-700k-2g-subscribers.html language: en-GB date: 2024-09-23T05:31:09Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news/17345-viettel-subsidises-4g-feature-phones-for-700k-2g-subscribers.html. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers. markdown-tokens: 1367 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news/17345-viettel-subsidises-4g-feature-phones-for-700k-2g-subscribers.html. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. Vietnamese telco Viettel reportedly plans to give away 4G feature phones to 700,000 of its 2G-only subscribers to migrate them to 4G as the government’s delayed shutdown of 2G draws near. According to a report from VN Express on Friday, state-owned Viettel will spend VND300 billion (US$12.2 million) to subsidise the 4G feature phones, which leverage the cloud to offer select OTT apps. Eligible users will receive an SMS telling them to go to the nearest Viettel store or contact local employees for help in receiving the handsets, the report said. Viettel also said it will prioritize subscribers in mountainous regions affected by Super Typhoon Yagi, including [Lao Cai](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/humanitarian-communications/17340-vnpt-starts-work-on-base-station-for-lang-nu-resettlement-area.html), Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Hoa Binh, Bac Kan, Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Cao Bang, and Ha Giang provinces, the report added. Viettel's move follows the decision by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) last week to [delay its planned shutoff of 2G mobile networks](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-regulation/17320-vietnam-delays-2g-shutoff-in-wake-of-supertyphoon-yagi.html) from September 16 to October 15. While the official reason for the delay is to help communities impacted by Yagi stay connected, the official Vietnam News Agency reported last week that around 1.8 million 2G-only subscribers have not yet switched to 3G or 4G services. Viettel – which has the largest 2G subscriber base in Vietnam – has reportedly managed to migrate over 8 million 2G subscribers to 4G devices this year. It has also installed over 6,000 new base stations across the country to expand its 4G coverage to 96% of the population, including 4 million new users in remote and rural areas, VN Express reports. The MIC intends to [shut down 2G-only services](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-regulation/16985-vietnam-s-mic-issues-roadmap-for-planned-2g-cutoff-in-september.html) to free up the 900-MHz and 1800-MHz bands for other services, including 4G and 5G in the immediate term and potentially 6G in 2030. Under the revised plan, all telcos will stop providing services to all 2G-only phones starting October 15, with the exception of M2M 2G devices, as well as Vietnamese offshore platforms and the coastal archipelagos of Truong Sa (Spratley Islands) and Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands), which can continue to use 2G services until September 2026. ```json { "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "author": { "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#john_tanner_b807895845" }, "dateModified": "2024-09-23T05:31:09Z", "datePublished": "2024-09-23T05:31:09Z", "description": "Vietnamese telco Viettel reportedly plans to give away 4G feature phones to 700,000 of its 2G-only subscribers to encourage them to migrate to 4G as the government’s delayed shutdown of 2G draws near.", "headline": "Viettel subsidises 4G feature phones for 700k 2G subscribers", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/Company_Logos\/Viettel_store_Vietnam_correct_size_600.jpeg", "caption": "", "description": "Viettel subsidises 4G feature phones for 700k 2G subscribers", "width": 600, "height": 450 } ], "inLanguage": "en-GB", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/operator-news\/17345-viettel-subsidises-4g-feature-phones-for-700k-2g-subscribers.html" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher" }, "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/operator-news\/17345-viettel-subsidises-4g-feature-phones-for-700k-2g-subscribers.html" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Tanner", "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#john_tanner_b807895845" }, { "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher", "@type": "Organization", "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/", "logo": { "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo" }, "name": "Developing Telecoms" }, { "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo", "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/highResLogos\/dt-site-logo-440.png", "width": "440", "height": "122" } ] } ```