The Ministry of Information and Communications will hold an auction to award 4G licenses next year, meaning domestic customers have to wait till 2015 to use the service although the new technology is becoming popular in the world with 250 service providers.

Currently, VNPT and Viettel with 4G testing licenses have gained some success. They both are expecting to get the licenses in the near future.

Thieu Phuong Nam, country manager at Qualcomm for Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, said that the company has also recommended the Ministry to award 4G licenses in 2015.

Prices of devices fitted with 4G technology including mobile phones and laptops have been down, making it easier for network providers to offer the 4G service. Most of the latest chipsets globally produced and supplied by Qualcomm already have 4G technology with lower prices than before, he added.

Many experts claimed 4G allows for a data speed 5-10 times faster than 3G.

Speaking at a recent meeting on the telecom market in Hanoi, Vo Tri Thanh, deputy head of the Central Institute for Economic Management, affirmed the local backwardness since foreign countries have become quite familiar with 4G and are developing 5G while Vietnam is still staying behind with 3G.

To have better 3G services, Nam said the Ministry should allow network operators to use the frequency of 900Mhz instead of 2100Mhz for 3G like currently. Developing 3G on a low frequency will cost less, have an extensive coverage and can increase the 3G quality, which are advantageous for expanding network coverage in both urban and rural areas.

Qualcomm claimed that the 3G penetration has reached 70% in the U.S., 40% in China but only 25% in Vietnam. This fact shows there is much room left in Vietnam for investors like Qualcomm.