5G service is fast but still patchy
Two weeks ago, Viettel officially launched its commercial 5G service for users. This is also the first network operator in Vietnam to announce this commercial service.
Viettel representative said that they have installed more than 6,500 BTS stations, covering 100% of the "capitals" of 63 provinces and cities, industrial parks, tourist areas, seaports, airports, hospitals, and universities. The network speed can reach 1 Gbps, 10 times faster than current 4G and the latency is almost zero.
After learning about the availability of 5G, Ms. Dang Thanh Hoa (Cau Giay District, Hanoi) went to the settings of her iPhone 15 Pro and turned on 5G mode. Ms. Hoa said that at first she was surprised by the superior speed of the 5G network. For example, when downloading the same application on the App Store, while her phone loaded within 10-20 seconds, her husband's phone (currently using 4G) took more than 3 minutes.
However, Ms. Hoa assessed that the current 5G signal is still unstable and unstable. Using i-SPEED software (a network speed testing application developed by the Vietnam Internet Center - VNNIC under the Ministry of Information and Communications) at home, she measured the 5G download speed at 250.68Mbps and the upload speed at 105.76Mbps. However, just moving to a coffee shop more than 1km away from home, these indicators changed significantly, the 5G download speed only reached 98.25Mbps and the upload speed reached 53.76Mbps.
Similarly, Mr. Duong Ngoc Phu (Dong Da, Hanoi) said that his area now has 5G signal. However, at many times, his iPhone 13 Pro Max automatically switches to 4G mode.
It is understandable that it is not stable.
Speaking with Lao Dong, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Tien Ban (Academy of Posts and Telecommunications) said that the main reason why 5G is still unstable is due to the limited number of BTS stations or technical problems with transmission lines... "Network operators will have technical solutions for better coverage and stronger signals" - Mr. Ban said.
Explaining the reason why 5G waves are not stable in the early stages, Mr. Doan Quang Hoan - Vice President of the Vietnam Radio and Electronics Association, former Director of the Radio Frequency Department - said that this technology is currently being prioritized for deployment in densely populated areas with high user density. In sparsely populated areas, the investment will be very large but the efficiency will be limited.
Developing a dense 5G BTS station will consume a lot of electricity, so network operators must balance between demand and customer service capacity.
Mr. Hoan also explained that the coverage of 5G is narrower than 3G 4G, so the density of BTS stations in an area must be greater than 3G 4G. If the appropriate density is not reached, it will lead to instability.
In addition to Viettel, Vinaphone said that it is implementing a free 5G trial program. During the period from October 13 to November 15, VinaPhone customers who already have a 5G phone while in a 5G coverage area will receive 50GB of data with a usage period of 30 days. Meanwhile, MobiFone announced that customers will be able to experience 5G services starting in November. The company revealed that it will implement a model of infrastructure sharing cooperation with network operators with suitable 5G bands.
