Viettel and Qualcomm have signed a strategic partnership aimed at making Vietnam a global hub for technology research and development.
Under the deal, the two sides will accelerate joint projects in strategic fields including 5G/6G infrastructure, AI-driven network management, data centres, smart devices, and AI applications for government and business. These technologies align with Vietnam’s target of a 30% digital economy share of GDP by 2030.
The collaboration, which began in 2009, has already produced breakthroughs such as the world’s first 5G Open RAN base station using Qualcomm chipsets.
Viettel plans to deploy more than 2,000 such stations nationwide in 2025, positioning Vietnam among the six countries capable of manufacturing 5G network equipment.
The product has been exported to the Middle East and nominated for the “Open RAN Excellence” award at Network X Awards 2025 in Paris.
The two companies also co-developed the world’s first 5G AI camera for smart traffic, now in use across Vietnam and entering global markets.
Past joint achievements include Vietnam’s first “made-in-Vietnam” 3G USB modem, Wi-Fi AP devices, and the VIPPHONE secure smartphone.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon praised Viettel’s strong R&D team and problem-solving drive, while Viettel Chairman Lt. Gen. Tao Duc Thang said the deepened cooperation will open “historic opportunities” for Vietnam’s tech industry.
In 2009, Qualcomm licensed its chipsets to Viettel, enabling the development and production of Vietnam’s first “made-in-Vietnam” 3G USB modem, offering download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and upload speeds of 5.76 Mbps.
By 2017, the two companies had jointly created Viettel’s first domestically made Wifi Access Point, delivering triple the speed of comparable products at only about 70% of the cost.
In 2018, Viettel gained rights to use Qualcomm patents to develop, manufacture, and distribute 3G and 4G devices. That same year, they co-produced the VIPPHONE, a secure smartphone capable of encrypting calls and messages to the highest global standards, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 security chipset and an encryption algorithm considered unbreakable even by supercomputers./.
