Vietnam's telecom firm Viettel announced it is the sixth company in the world to manufacture 5G devices.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung and Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh made the first video call with Viettel’s gNodeB transceiver in Hanoi on Friday.

The gNodeB transceiver made by Viettel includes both software and hardware. The device was developed in six months, starting in June last year.

In April, the carrier used a foreign-made device to make a call via the 5G network. Now, after eight months, Viettel has helped Vietnam master 5G technology.

Viettel said it is now the sixth provider of 5G devices globally. Others include Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Samsung and ZTE.

As the Vietnamese government sets a goal to go digital, Viettel general director Le Dang Dung said: “The 5G network will determine the success of the digital economy.

“Many countries are using 5G services to strengthen their science-technology position on the global market and develop their economies.”

“It’s why Viettel considers 5G to be the most strategic project of the group,” said Dung.

Attending the event, Anh said the move “is a very rare opportunity, creating a research and development platform for Vietnam to develop further”.

Viettel said it will start commercialising the devices by June this year and produce the devices on a large scale a year later.

Viettel expected to build civil and military products on the ‘5G technology ecosystem’ developed and manufactured in Vietnam. Currently, Viettel has more than 110 million customers in eleven countries.

VIET NAM NEWS/ANN