Chelsea announces partnership with Vietnam mobile network operator

The three-year partnership allows Vietnamobile to offer co-branded products such as limited edition SIM cards and promotions in Vietnam, while Chelsea fans in the Southeast Asian country will also be able to access exclusive digital content including wallpapers, videos and ringtones, Chelsea said on its website.

“We are committed to bringing Chelsea FC as close as possible to our supporters around the world, and I am very pleased this partnership with Vietnamobile will allow us to extend that reach in a country where we are already very popular,” Chelsea Chief Executive Ron Gourlay said in a statement.

Vietnamobile CEO Garmon Shaw said Chelsea is widely liked in Vietnam, where football is the favorite sport, as a leading contender in the English Premier League and the European Champions League.

“We are excited to partner with Chelsea and commit to bring this football-loving country a series of interesting activities to mutually benefit both parties,” he said.

Vietnam contributes significantly to the global fanbase of Chelsea FC, with more than one million Facebook ‘likes’ for the club’s official page in the country, the club said on its website.

Founded in 2009, Vietnamobile is the fastest-growing nationwide mobile communications service operator in Vietnam, providing 2G and 3G services, with a focus on competitive pricing and customer service, it said on its website.

Vietnamobile is a Business Cooperation Contract partnership between Hanoi Telecom and Hutchison Asia Telecom Group (“HAT”) which comprises mobile telecommunications operations in the emerging markets of Indonesia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.

HAT is a key part of Hutchison Whampoa Limited’s telecommunications division, which includes operators in Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sweden, and the UK.

Vietnamobile is the fourth-largest mobile network operator in Vietnam with around 13 million subscribers, according to the operator’s report released in January 2014.

Viettel tops the operator list with 54 million subscribers, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the market share, Dien Dan Doanh Nghiep(Business Forum) newspaper said in September, adding that the military-run telecom firm is followed by MobiFone, which has 40 million subscribers, and Vinaphone, with 21 million.

Founded in 1905, Chelsea is London’s most central football club, based at the iconic 42,000-seat Stamford Bridge stadium.

The club, nicknamed ‘The Blues,’ won the 2012 UEFA Champions League and claimed English Premier League titles in the 2004–05, 2005–06, and 2009–10 seasons.