Vietnam closing in on 5G after Nokia bags Viettel deal

Under the agreement, Nokia will supply enough equipment from its AirScale RAN portfolio – including massive MIMO radios and remote radio heads – to cover 2,500 sites. These will be deployed across 22 of the country's 58 provinces.

Nokia is keen to point out that not only will the deal introduce 5G to Vietnam for the first time, but it will also for the first time see locally-produced 5G products put to use in Viettel's network.

Indeed, local news outlet Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) reported in June that contract manufacturer Foxconn had won a deal to produce AirScale products on behalf of Nokia at its facility in the northern province of Bac Giang.

Production for both domestic and international markets kicked off in July, and ramped up in September to coincide with this Nokia deal with Viettel.

The agreement puts Vietnam on the cusp of finally launching 5G.

In addition to undertaking a lengthy legal process in order to specify and adopt proper procedures for allocating spectrum, Vietnam's journey towards 5G was also beset by delays stemming from the pandemic.

The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) finally held its first 5G auction this March, and by April, Viettel and the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) had emerged as the successful bidders.

For its part, Nokia has been working with Viettel on 5G for at least five years.

The two conducted a live demonstration of an end-to-end 5G network in Ho Chi Minh City in September 2019. At the time, Nokia said it put Vietnam on course for an early commercial rollout.

In February last year, Nokia upgraded Viettel's dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) network to 600G per wavelength, which was also pitched as preparing Viettel's infrastructure for 5G.

Given their well-established relationship and how long it has taken to get to this point, it would have been borderline churlish for Viettel to select one of Nokia's rivals for its commercial deployment.

"Nokia is proud to be Viettel Group's principal partner in this critical digital transformation project that will lay the foundations for Vietnam's future competitiveness. Nokia has been a part of Vietnam's growth over the past three decades, and this initiative of enhancing local technology production continues to strengthen our bond with the country," said Tommi Uitto, president of Nokia's mobile networks division.

"Our AirScale portfolio offers premium connectivity, low latency, and reduced power consumption supporting Vietnam's digital future," he added.

"This important project with our long-term partner Nokia, will play a critical role in advancing Viettel Group's strategy of deploying 5G infrastructure and driving digital transformation in Vietnam," said Viettel president and CEO Tao Duc Thang. "5G technology supports the development of national digital infrastructure and a digital service ecosystem, creating opportunities for economic growth and increased productivity."

Meanwhile, Nokia has also just announced a deal in nearby Thailand.

It has won a deal to upgrade wholesaler International Gateway Company (IGC)'s DWDM network. In particular, the route from its East region bordering Cambodia to its South region next door to Malaysia.

The new network will be able to transmit at 400G per wavelength, giving IGC the means to support booming data traffic demand.

It's encouraging to see that despite the dismal ongoing performance of the global network equipment market, there are still one or two bright spots.