Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan on Tuesday signed a licence allowing Gtel Mobile Joint Stock Company (Gtel Mobile) to provide 4G telecommunications service in Viet Nam.

This brings the number of operators getting licences for 4G service to four.

Like the three major network operators -- Viettel, VNPT and MobiFone -- Gtel will deploy 4G telecom service on the 1800 MHz, which had previously been used for the 2G service.

According to the ministry's Telecommunications Department, responsibilities of the network provider in terms of coverage range, quality and service fees would be stipulated clearly in the licence to ensure rights of users and the feasibility of implementation.

Gtel Mobile was founded in July 2008 as a joint venture between Global Telecommunication Corporation and Russia's VimpelCom.

In April, 2012, Vimpelcom sold its entire indirect 49 per cent stake in the joint venture to GTEL Transmit and Infrastructure Service One Member Company Limited, a related party of the company's Vietnamese partner Global Telecommunications Corporation, according to the press release by Vimpelcom.

Gtel Mobile provides telecommunications services on the GSM/EDGE platform. It has been partnering with global leading technology groups, such as Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, Comverse and IBM, to develop the network equipment building system, the company said on its website.

Gtel Mobile had provided network under the brand Beeline in Viet Nam until August 2012, which was replaced by Gmobile in September 2012.

Viettel, VNPT and MobiFone were licensed to implement 4G services days ago.

Vietnamobile is the only telecommunications network provider in Viet Nam which has joined in the implementation of 4G.

Viettel and VNPT carried out pilot implementation of 4G services in several provinces and cities at the end of last year, while MobiFone has piloted the implementation of 4G since July in Ha Noi, Da Nang and HCM City.

The ministry plans to develop wideband infrastructure for 3G/4G services to meet the demand of at least 95 per cent of the population by 2020.

Earlier this year, experts said time was ripe for Viet Nam to implement 4G service, which is expected to develop strongly in 2017. 

VNS