The event marks a new step forward when a Vietnamese enterprise not only participates in the exhibition but also directly participates in discussions and contributes solutions to core technology issues of the global mobile industry.
For many years, in-depth discussion sessions at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026 have often gathered leaders of technology corporations and major network operators around the world – businesses that are leading the development and deployment of global telecommunications technology.
In the context of AI becoming the main driving force of the new technology era, many discussion sessions this year focus on bringing AI into devices, networks and new generation digital services.
As the only enterprise representing Vietnam at the event, Viettel participated in the discussion session "The Power Equation of the AI Era", discussing the energy and operating efficiency problem in the AI era. The discussion session gathered many large technology corporations such as Amazon Web Services and Arm Ltd.
Mr. Le Quang Hieu, Deputy General Director of Viettel Networks, representative of Viettel at the discussion session, said that in the context of the rapidly expanding 5G network, Viettel is applying AI to optimize operating costs and improve network exploitation efficiency.
In Vietnam, Viettel is currently the only enterprise to deploy a complete 5G Standalone (5G SA) network with a scale of nearly 30,000 stations by the end of 2025 - the largest 5G network in the country. In 2026, Viettel will continue to deploy about 20,000 more stations, aiming to cover 5G coverage to 98% of the population.
AI is helping Viettel optimize operating costs through many applications such as managing energy consumption at broadcasting stations and data centers, as well as gradually building self-operating networks. This is an important factor to maintain exploitation efficiency while the network is increasingly large and complex" - Mr. Hieu said.
Self-operating networks – as defined by TM Forum – are networks capable of self-monitoring, self-optimization and gradually reducing human manual intervention. This technology is divided from level L0 (manual operation) to L5 (completely automated). Currently, most networks in the world are at level L1–L2, while L3 is considered an important shift as the automation system becomes the center of operational control.
The application of AI to move towards self-operating networks helps network operators use infrastructure resources more efficiently, reduce operating costs and improve service quality for customers.
At MWC this year, self-operating network technology and AI in telecommunications appeared in most booths of major network operators and solution providers. This is considered an important direction to help telecommunications businesses both increase revenue and reduce operating costs in the AI era.
According to Mr. Terence Wong, Director of GSMA Asia-Pacific region, Viettel is in a special position in the telecommunications industry as it is both a network operator and develops its own equipment and technology ecosystem.
It is not common for a network operator to develop its own equipment and ecosystem, so Viettel is in a very unique position. We see that Viettel's products have reached a high level of maturity and are being successfully deployed in Vietnam with impressive results. MWC is an opportunity for Viettel to share this experience with other markets," Mr. Wong said.
Viettel's participation in official discussions on one of the most important technology topics of the mobile industry shows the significant progress of Vietnamese businesses in mastering technology and participating in solving global problems of the telecommunications industry, while affirming Vietnam's growing position in the international digital technology ecosystem.
