Key Takeaways
- Early pilot: Ho Chi Minh City will trial 6G as early as 2026, ahead of the ITU and 3GPP finalizing radio standards.
- Viettel leads the charge: the military-run operator is targeting pre-commercial trials in 2028 and a commercial launch in 2029, with a native-AI system and a global alliance including Qualcomm, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Samsung, Nokia, LG and SK Telecom.
- Solid 5G foundation: as of December 2025, 5G coverage had reached 91.2% of the population, with nearly 40,000 base stations and 23 million subscribers.
A political plan before a technological one
Vietnam has announced a 6G pilot in Ho Chi Minh City as early as 2026, even though the International Telecommunication Union and 3GPP have yet to finalize radio standards for the technology. The move stems from Politburo Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, passed in 2025, which requires the country to master artificial intelligence, 5G, 6G and satellite communications by 2030. The document frames the strategy as an act of digital sovereignty: Vietnam no longer intends to import ready-made networks, but to design and patent them domestically.
Viettel and the roadmap to 2029
Viettel, the telecommunications group controlled by the Vietnamese military, presented a roadmap at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March 2026 outlining a shift to 5G-Advanced starting in 2027, pre-commercial 6G trials in 2028, and a commercial launch in 2029. Chairman and CEO Tao Duc Thang described the goal as mastering core technologies "from the ground up," with artificial intelligence embedded across every layer of the network, from devices to cloud computing.
Viettel signed a memorandum of understanding with Qualcomm to co-develop flagship AI-powered smartphones, based on Qualcomm's reference designs and Viettel's in-house Agentic AI software ecosystem. The company also joins FPT and VNG in the global alliance launched by Qualcomm at MWC 2026, which includes Google, Meta, Microsoft, Samsung, Nokia, LG and SK Telecom.
Other national players stepping in
VNPT, the country's second-largest operator, is focusing its 6G research on artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing. FPT describes 6G as a central intelligence layer meant to integrate connectivity, sensing and high-performance computing into a single native-AI platform, according to chairman Truong Gia Binh.
5G as the infrastructural foundation
Vietnam's 5G rollout reached 91.2% population coverage by December 2025, with nearly 40,000 base stations and 23 million subscribers. Viettel alone installed 23,500 5G stations in 2025 alone, pushing its total past 30,000 units and placing it among the world's top 15 operators by infrastructure scale.
The technical hurdles of 6G
Vietnamese experts themselves acknowledge that piloting 6G in 2026, ahead of ITU and 3GPP standard-setting, is technically very challenging. The technology requires terahertz-range frequency bands, semiconductors different from today's, intelligent antennas, and a fusion of communication and sensing still largely confined to laboratories. Vietnam's strategy aims to join ITU study groups on spectrum allocation from the outset and to build domestic semiconductor expertise.
Early institutional groundwork
The Ministry of Information and Communications set up a Steering Committee for 6G Research and Development in 2022, followed in 2023 by a dedicated team for 6G equipment development involving Viettel, VNPT and MobiFone. Vietnam is among the few countries to have established a dedicated 6G body even before international standards were finalized.
The geopolitical dimension
Vietnam's strategy aims to reduce dependence on foreign network infrastructure suppliers, positioning the country as a technology producer rather than a mere buyer. The project envisions a 6G network capable of powering smart cities, autonomous vehicles and remote healthcare services, with the stated goal of shaping global standards from the earliest stages.
