Vietnamese mobile phone subscribers and 3G users are worrying that they may suffer from cell phone network overloads during the Lunar New Year holidays, but network operators are confident that their upgraded infrastructure is capable of handling the potential increase in mobile traffic.

In previous years, phone calls would drop and text messages would fail to send on Lunar New Year’s Eve when millions of people exchanged wishes via phone calls at once.

Upgrading the network infrastructure and preparing solutions to prevent an overload has thus become an essential task for local mobile firms, especially the country’s three largest service providers, Viettel, Vinaphone, and MobiFone.

On Monday, all three announced that preparations for the increase in phone usage have been completed.

Vinaphone claimed that its system is capable of serving more than 50 million subscribers, a capacity even larger than its current 30 million active users. Its texting system can also ensure traffic flow for 30 million texts per hour, the company said.

Vinaphone has also put 800 new base stations into use in order to optimize the quality of its 2G and 3G services.

MobiFone said it will focus on maintaining services in major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hanoi, where huge crowds are expected to gather for Lunar New Year’s Eve events.

3G traffic ensured

Many other subscribers are concerned over the 3G services during the holidays. With 3G services and apps booming in 2013, more people are expected to make phone calls or send their wishes via free texting and messaging apps this Tet.

But the mobile network operators again confirmed that there would be no traffic overload thanks to their improved infrastructure.

A telecom expert also played down the concerns of subscribers, saying the service providers are completely capable of controlling the mobile data traffic, thus preventing network overloads.

“The operators can increase the 3G bandwidth for certain areas where there are many users to ensure traffic flow,” he said.

Despite the reassurance, the mobile firms also recommended that users adopt some measures to limit the possibility of network overloads.

Subscribers, for instance, are advised not to call or send text messages during the busy moments just before and after midnight on Lunar New Year’s Eve, or to send messages to many recipients at the same time.