Vietnamese operator Mobifone completed tests on a pilot 5G network in four cities, making it the second mobile player in the country prepared to launch commercial service.

In a statement issued on 10 March, the operator said it spent nearly a year deploying and evaluating the performance of 5G base stations in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hai Phong. It didn’t give a timeframe for when commercial service would begin.

The testing showed the network was capable of delivering download data rates of about 2Gb/s, it said, noting it worked with major 5G equipment providers to assess the responsiveness and service quality of the pilot network.

MobiFone, with a 22 per cent share of mobile subscribers, received a trial licence from the Ministry of Information and Communications in January 2019 to evaluate technical features and the feasibility of deploying a next-generation network.

Rival Viettel received a trial licence at the same time, and in May 2019 laid claim to being the first to demonstrate a 5G connection in Vietnam.

The operator invested about $40 million in 5G to date and aims to launch commercial services in June.