Viettel Group lined up Nokia as a major equipment supplier for a planned 5G deployment across Vietnam’s 22 provinces this year, claiming to be the first to use locally manufactured kit.

The deployment will cover 2,500 sites and includes baseband, Massive MIMO radios and remote radio head products in Nokia’s 5G AirScale portfolio.

Nokia will also modernise the operator’s 4G network.

In a joint statement, Viettel president and CEO Tao Duc Thang noted 5G technology supports the development of national digital infrastructure and related services, creating opportunities for economic growth and increased productivity.

Tommi Uitto, president of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said the project will “lay the foundations for Vietnam’s future competitiveness”.

Viettel started testing 5G in parts of the country’s two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, using trial licences in 2019.

Commercial 5G deployments were held up by the Ministry of Information and Communications only releasing spectrum earlier this year.