Viettel has won a $1.5 billion bid in Myanmar to establish a 4G mobile network in the country.

The group will cooperate with two Myanmar companies - MEC and SPV - to set up a joint venture to provide both internet and mobile networks, according to Mr. Le Dang Dung, Viettel’s Deputy General Director.

By the end of May, Viettel and its two partners will finish procedures to establish the joint venture, in which  Viettel will hold 49 per cent and contribute $1.5 billion in investment.

The government will then issue a mobile telecommunications license to the joint venture - the fourth in the country.

With a population of 53 million, Myanmar has significant potential because it still in the initial stages of development.

In 2014 Viettel planned to cooperate with Yatanarpon Teleport, a Myanmar company, but the plan was rejected by the country’s government. In 2013 it also submitted documents to seek a business license in mobile telecommunications, but again was unsuccessful.

In 2015 it recorded revenue of $1.5 billion from foreign markets and had retrieved 80 per cent of its capital in foreign investments.