Vietnam’s Viettel claims to have developed its own 5G radio network base station, which it has used to demonstrate 5G connectivity.
The military-run operator has achieved a 5G connection on its Make in Vietnam device using its in-house gNodeB transceiver, which it claims meets 3GPP standards. The accomplishment puts Viettel in the company of Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Samsung and ZTE as a producer of 5G network equipment.
Viettel announced last year that it intended to deploy 5G using only its in-house equipment, and claims to have developed its base station in just six months. However, it has since revised this pledge, stating that it would use network equipment from Ericsson and Nokia, and has not confirmed whether this latest demonstration will see it return to its original goal of self-reliance.
Vietnam minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh said: “We are very happy that Viettel is the sixth company in the world to have the opportunity to start commercialising 5G [with] official ITU standardisation. This is a very rare opportunity, creating a R&D platform for Vietnam”.
The country’s government is pushing for locally developed equipment to be used for 5G launches, with Viettel looking to begin offering both commercial and military services from June this year.
