The main source of income for mobile network operators in the future will be from 3G instead of voice and text services.

The proportion of total revenue from 3G services has been increasing sharply, though the service still has not become the main source of mobile network operators’ income.

A recent survey found that people use smartphones mostly to access the internet instead of making calls or sending messages.

The discovery, analysts said, shows that mobile network operators should make more investments in 3G instead of voice or text services.

Nielsen’s survey conducted in 2013 found that the percentage of internet users in Viet Nam is high compared to the rest of the region.

Of the 58 percent of Vietnamese who regularly use the internet, 97 percent spend 16 hours a week on the internet. There is a considerable proportion of people who are always “online”, either on smartphones or computers.

The big changes in the telecommunication market, plus the low-cost smartphone boom in Viet Nam, will lead to a sharp growth of 3G services in the upcoming years and the decrease of 2G services, analysts said.

Mobile network operators are ready to adapt to new circumstances. In the past, mobile phone subscribers had to register to use 3G services and pay VND10,000 a month to maintain services. But now they do not have to register or pay the fee.

A senior executive of VinaPhone, one of the three largest telecom networks in Viet Nam, said that 3G is integrated in every sim card launched in the market. This means that users can automatically use 3G services, and there is no need to register with the operator.

VinaPhone and Viettel, two of the three biggest mobile network operators, have also confirmed that they expect the same or higher growth rates in 2014.