The Viettel Group, the largest mobile network operator in Vietnam, said it will launch services in Myanmar next month, which will become its tenth foreign market and joining Cambodia, Laos, Mozambique, and elsewhere.

Owned by the Ministry of Defense, Viettel said last week it had successfully completed tests for video-calling services based on a high-speed 4G LTE network in Naypitaw, the capital of Myanmar.

The test was carried out by the Myanmar National Tele & Communications Co. (Mytel), a joint venture between Viettel and the Star High Public Company, a local telecom carrier, and overseen by local authorities.

The joint venture will officially begin supplying telecommunications services in the first quarter of this year, with a strategy expected to focus on rural and remote areas; Viettel’s proven formula in overseas markets.

Once Mytel officially comes into operation, it will have 7,000 base transceiver stations (BTSs) nationwide and 30,000 km of optical fiber cables. Its infrastructure will cover 90 per cent of the country and this is to rise to 95 per cent over the next three years.

Viettel will provide a variety of telecommunications services using modern technology in the first quarter, including value-added services, fixed and mobile telecommunication services, e-wallets, and other information-technology solutions. It targets serving between 5-7 million customers after two years of operations.

Myanmar’s telecommunications market is currently held by three major players: the Myanmar Posts and Telecommunication Group (with a 42 per cent market share), Telenor from Norway (35 per cent), and Ooredoo from Qatar (23 per cent).

Viettel has yet to disclose the core market Mytel will focus on, but there are expectations it will prioritize rural and remote areas, which are generally ignored by its competitors, as well as areas where Viettel has achieved success in its other overseas markets.

The group posted revenue of VND250.8 trillion ($11.2 billion) in 2017, with pre-tax profit of VND44 trillion ($1.94 billion). It holds a 50 per cent market share in Cambodia and 47 per cent in both Laos and East Timor.

Expanding foreign investment will likely remain its key business strategy, as the domestic telecommunications market has reached saturation point. Viettel is the first and only firm in Vietnam to earn annual revenue in excess of $1 billion from overseas markets.

VN Economic Times