The Government has approved a telecom development master plan that says preparations to introduce 4G technology will begin this year.

Viettel is one of five operators to be granted a license to pilot 4G services by the Ministry of Information and Communications. (Photo: VNA)

Critics, however, say it should be reconsidered since the existing 3G capacity has yet to be fully utilised and 4G devices could be too expensive in a poor country.

Four years ago the Ministry of Information and Communications licensed five operators — FPT Telecom, VNPT, Viettel, CMC, and VTC — to pilot 4G services.

The country's major telecom service providers are ready to launch 4G services.

The three biggies, Viettel, MobiFone, and Vinaphone, have successfully tested their 4G services in some big cities and can scale up in a jiffy. But though they have been investing in large 4G networks since late last year, they continue to have misgivings.

"Mobile phone service providers are still investing in digital content for 3G," Do Vu Anh, head of the Viet  Nam Post and Telecommunication Corporation's telecommunications department, told Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper, indicating they are still focused largely on 3G services.

Viettel successfully pilot 4G technology in Laos and Cambodia through its Unitel and MetFone networks, but is undecided about whether to scale up.

A Viettel executive said, "Vietnamese people's incomes are not enough for them to buy equipment that support 4G."

Besides, investment in 3G was massive but its capacity had not been fully exploited yet, he said.

"Most customers now opt for the cheapest 3G packages, and if 4G technology is developed, the situation will be like building more highways when there are few vehicles."

The service providers could upgrade to 3.5G or 3.9G and still meet the demands of mobile data services rather than moving up straight to 4G, he said.

Do Vu Anh said, "Viet Nam's 3G services are probably the cheapest in the world, but there are only 30 million subscribers or 30 percent of the total number of mobile phone subscribers.

"The potential of 3G in Viet Nam is still huge."

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Le Nam Thang said the ministry would begin to issue licences for 4G networks in 2016.

(Source: VNA)