State-owned Vietnam Post has expanded into the mobile telecommunications market with a virtual network.
Rather than building its own physical transmission infrastructure, the postal company is leasing capacity from a partner network, selecting telecommunications group VNPT to power its connectivity.
Under the agreement, Vietnam Post oversees branding, product design, retail distribution, and customer support.
The move builds on a license it obtained last December to establish a nationwide public mobile network without holding dedicated radio frequency bands.
The license covers voice calling, text messaging, machine-to-machine transmission, and general Internet access.
For its market debut, Vietnam Post rolled out a travel SIM targeted at foreign visitors under the brand name Pottel. The data-only offering is tailored for foreign travelers needing mobile internet access during their stay in Vietnam.
Vietnam Post and VNPT share deep historical roots, having operated under the same unified postal and telecom administration for decades.
A restructuring in 2013 separated the two into independent corporate entities.
VNPT retained the telecom infrastructure, information technology, and digital platforms, while Vietnam Post took charge of traditional mail, parcel logistics, delivery networks, and postal financial services.
Vietnam’s mobile landscape features four traditional carriers that own their physical network infrastructure and radio frequencies: Viettel, VinaPhone, MobiFone, and Vietnamobile.
There are also five active virtual operators: iTel with the prefix 087, Wintel with 055, Local with 089, VNSKY with 077, and FPT with 0775.
Source: VN Express