Despite great efforts made by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), junk simcards and ready-activated simcards are still available. Many people say they can easily buy junk simcards, though VietNamNet’s surveys found that the number of  sales agents in violation has significantly decreased. 

According to the Authority of Telecommunications, about 1.5 million new simcards are launched each month, most of which are issued by the three largest mobile network operators, namely Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone. Vietnamobile, Itel, Local, Wintel and VNSKY account for a small proportion of the total new subscribers.

VietNamNet reporters, acting as clients, successfully bought junk cards and ready-activated simcards of large mobile networks (Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone).

On August 17, ready-activated simcards of Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone were sold at VND100,000-180,000. The prices were higher for SIM data, at VND200,000-250,000 (the prices include the service package). Vietnamobile’s simcards are always integrated with a data package, priced at VND70,000-150,000.

At a simcard shop on Cau Giay Street in Hanoi, the owner of the shop said he had ready-activated VinaPhone and MobiFone simcards to sell. A simcard used for text messages and calls, with no associated package, was sold for VND120,000.

At a Viettel’s sales agent, when VietNamNet reporters said to the salesman that they wanted a Viettel simcard, they were told to declare personal information on My Viettel app. However, when the reporters said they wanted unregistered simcards, the salesman showed ready activated simcards. Each simcard was sold at VND180,000.

VietNamNet reporters also succeeded in buying a simcard at a large sales agent in Ba Dinh District in Hanoi, though they did not show identification cards.

The reporters then decided to buy an old VinaPhone simcard at VND200,000, which included VND50,000 in account. When checking the simcard by sending a message to the switchboard, they learned that the simcard was registered in the name of ‘Nguyen Thi Luong’, born in 1957, and the activation date was July 4, 2023.

VietNamNet also conducted a survey at some sales agents in the districts of Dong Da, Thanh Xuan, Ha Dong and Hai Ba Trung in Hanoi and found that many sales agents were still selling junk cards, ignoring the warnings from watchdog agencies.

At a shop on Tay Son Street, the salesman affirmed that he had simcards of all major mobile network operators.

“Each simcard of this type is priced at VND100,000 only, because it is used only for making calls and sending text messages. There are several thousand dong in the account which allows you to make emergency calls,” the salesman said.

The seller used the SIM tray attached to the feature phone to activate MobiFone's simcard. Just a second later, the simcard was ready for people to make calls.

At a simcard shop on Vu Trong Phung Street in Thanh Xuan district, simcard buyers could choose subscription numbers. The prices of ready-activated simcards were between VND90,000 and VND120,000. If buyers want simcards starting with ’09’, they  have to pay more. 

Those who buy simcards from the shop just need to install on mobile phones to use, and there is no need to implement any other operation. The salesman advised reporters to buy ready-activated simcards immediately, warning that the simcards of this kind will no longer exist in the market.

It was also not difficult to buy call-and-message simcards and data simcards at a shop on Quang Trung Street in Hanoi.

“Data simcards are mostly issued by VinaPhone and MobiFone because the prices are low. There are not many simcards issued by Viettel, because they are more expensive,” the salesman explained.

During the latest market survey, VietNamNetm reporters came to a shop and said they wanted a Vietnamobile simcard without having to make registration. While giving a simcard to the reporters, the salesman told them to call 0922.789.789 and ask to activate the simcard.

Reporters found they could access the internet and use call and messaging services. The 0922.789.789 number is the same number of the switchboard of the mobile network, shown on the back side of the Vietnamobile simcard.

Trong Dat - The Minh - Ngo Vinh