Viettel lights up Mozambique with fibre and mobile

Vietnamese carrier Viettel has expanded beyond Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, this week lighting up its first operation in Africa – a mobile network in Mozambique.

Viettel acquired a licence for the country in January 2011, and said it has since built out 12,600 kilometres of fibre optic cable and 1,800 mobile stations in Mozambique. The carrier said this network represents 70 per cent of the total of Mozambique’s available fibre optic cable and 50 per cent of the country’s mobile stations, effectively tripling the density of Mozambique’s telecom infrastructure per one million inhabitants.

“This is the first time many areas will have had access to telecom services, so the company has made a major contribution to the implementation of Mozambique’s socio-economic development and poverty reduction strategy,” said Mozambican president Armano Emilio Guebuza.

The Movitel-branded network doubles the network coverage commitments identified in the mobile licence, while Viettel is also providing free internet for 4,200 schools as part of the group’s pledge to the Mozambican Government.

“Mozambique is Viettel’s first market in Africa. Viettel is seeking for new opportunities to expand its investment in other African countries,” Viettel said in a statement.