Viettel aims to widen global footprints

The military-run company was the only representative of Vietnam attended the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 in Barcelona, the largest event in the mobile industry, drawing 85,000 telecommunications and information technology companies from around the world.

At the four-day event, Viettel presented new information technology solutions and communications services as well as searching for opportunities to expand globally.

“Visitors to our booth at the MWC were surprised to learn that Viettel has succeeded in popularising mobile services, even 3G, in very poor areas without electricity in Vietnam, as well as in distant African countries. They wanted to know how we did it,” shared one of Viettel’s MWC representatives.

Regarding the company’s latest business achievements in tapping foreign markets, Viettel deputy general director Tao Duc Thang revealed that the group posted record growth in two new African markets in 2015.

In Burundi, Viettel’s Lumitel brand jumped from the fourth largest to the largest mobile service provider after less than three months in operation, while in Tanzania the group’s Halotel brand reached one million subscribers after three months.

“In Vietnam as well as in other countries, we pursue the strategy of embedding telecommunications and information technology into every facet of life. This will transform the way we live, learn, work, and entertain, enabling us to lead smarter lives with more rapid social development,” said Thang.

Thus far, Viettel has made forays into 10 foreign markets. In most of them the company made profits after two years of operations, taking the largest market slice.

Of these, Viettel’s operations in Timor Leste started generating profits after six months, while its Movitel brand in Mozambique brought sweeping changes to the telecommunications sector there and was dubbed the “African miracle”.

“Telecommunications, and particularly mobile services, provides the fastest way to shorten the gap in development between nations. Viettel has gone out of its way to transform the telecommunications industry landscape in the markets we have invested in,” explained a Viettel spokesperson.

Thang shared that Viettel plans to boost presence in 20-25 countries by 2020, serving about 600-800 million subscribers, and hopes to become one of the top 10 telecommunications companies in outbound investment worldwide.