Viet Nam is expected to witness one of the largest growths in mobile broadband subscriptions in Southeast Asia together with Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines, by 2021.

Customers use smartphones at an exhibition in Ha Noi. Smartphone subscriptions in Viet Nam are expected to triple from around 30 million in 2015.

The latest edition of the Ericsson's Mobility Report and the South East Asia and Oceania report, highlighting mobile network coverage and network performance, predicts smartphone subscriptions in Viet Nam will triple from around 30 million in 2015.

By the end of 2015, mobile subscription penetration reached almost 150 per cent in Viet Nam. Of which, mobile broadband subscription penetration was close to 40 per cent.

Ericsson ConsumerLab analysis based on face-to-face interviews reveals that more than 30 per cent of smartphone and weekly internet users in Viet Nam are using all these key application categories on a daily basis: social networking, instant messaging and social videos (free online videos or videos on social media).

When looking at each application category, more than 70 per cent of the survey respondents are using social networking, more than 50 per cent using instant messaging and more than 40 per cent using free online videos or videos in social media on a daily basis.

"With a view to monetising mobile data services growth, operators need an environment that enables agility in service creation, delivery and management, with fast launch of a much broader range of innovative products. Innovation comes through an ecosystem of partners and suppliers," said Jan Wassenius, head of Ericsson Viet Nam and Myanmar.

"With the roll out of the 4G/LTE network in Viet Nam we expect to see more mobile data services being used. Services such as social networking and video streaming will continue to grow as Vietnamese people continue to embrace the benefit of data connectivity," Wassenius added.

Co-operation with MIC

At a meeting with Jan Wassenius on Wednesday, Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan praised Ericsson's investment in Viet Nam.

"Viet Nam is focusing on building telecommunication infrastructure and information and technology (IT)," said the minister.

The minister also asked Ericsson to invest in research and development (R&D) centres in Viet Nam, especially at hi-tech parks in Ha Noi, HCM City and Da Nang.

The minister also expressed his hope that Ericsson would boost co-operation with domestic enterprises, encouraging them to join the company's global IT service supply chain and implement training courses in order to help Viet Nam enhance the quality of its human resources.

In response to the minister's proposal, Wassenius said that the company would consider training programmes in collaboration with Viet Nam given that co-operation in the field of education and training was compatible with the company's policies. 

VNS