Several mobile carriers are seeking approval from the VietnamTelecommunications Authority to deploy the fourth generation (4G)network, the Saigon Times Daily reported.

Speaking at aVietnam Internet Day in Ho Chi Minh City recently, Le Thi Ngoc Mo,deputy head of the authority, said they could start 4G services nextyear. Experts said at the event that it is the right time for Vietnam toprovide 4G services.

Thieu Phuong Nam, General Director ofQualcomm Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, was quoted as saying that prices ofdevices that can run on the 4G network have dropped.

On theother hand, 4G has grown fast in Southeast Asia and the world as awhole, making it possible to lower the cost of the service.

Namsaid Vietnam’s current policy and strategy were conductive to thedevelopment of 4G frequencies, so authorities should issue licences fornetwork operators to prepare for the launch of 4G services.

Askedby the Daily if it was too early and wasteful to develop 4G networks inVietnam next year, Nam said it did not mean 4G networks would supersede3G networks. The two kinds of network could co-exist.

In places where there are no 4G networks, users could still use 3G, and this can save 4G network investment costs.

Accordingto the Vietnam Internet Association, Vietnam had 26 million 3Gsubscribers as of October this year after three years of development.

Asurvey by Business Monitor International, a UK-based market researchfirm, showed 36 million out of 92 million Vietnamese people use theInternet while 34 percent of the population use mobile Internetservices.

The firm also found that 33 percent of Vietnamese Internet subscribers buy goods online.

Theassociation’s chairman Vu Hoang Lien said 3G services had helped peoplehave easy access to the Internet in large cities. 3G coverage could beextended to rural areas in the coming time.-VNA