Viettel Telecom under military-run Viettel Group on Saturday began offering free 4G mobile service on a trial basis to customers in some parts of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau for one week.

The trial was launched after Viettel Telecom installed about 200 base transmission stations covering the entire residential area of ​​Vung Tau City, Ba Ria City and Long Dien District.

4G is short for the fourth-generation of wireless communication technology that allows transmission of data at the maximum speed in ideal conditions of up to 1-1.5GB per second, many times higher than what is offered by the current 3G technology.

The week-long pilot program followed a permit granted to the telecom firm by the Ministry of Information and Communications one month earlier.

The average speed of the 4G service in Vung Tau City on Saturday was at 40-80Mb per second, seven times higher than the average speed of the 3G technology.

But at some locations, the average speed could reach up to 230Mb per second. The ideal downloading and uploading speed in theory of the advanced mobile technology 4G LTE-A is around 300Mb per second and 150Mb per second, respectively.

During the trial week, which will end on December 18, Viettel will offer free 4G SIM cards at four outlets and two stores in supermarkets in the province.

About 10,000 free Viettel 4G SIM cards have already been prepared for this trial and users can experience such utility-based services as 4G HD movies, music, and multi-screen TV experience, enabling them  to watch movies and other TV channels on multiple smartphones and tablet computers at the same time, according to Viettel.

"We are ready to offer the service on a large scale immediately after being licensed to do so," said Nguyen Viet Dung, general director of Viettel Telecom.

In September, Viettel Telecom said that it would launch 4G mobile broadband services on a pilot basis the following month.

State-run Vinaphone followed suit by saying it would offer the same services within the two successive months.

According to Viettel Telecom, subscribers who want to use 4G services must change their SIM cards, but they can maintain their phone numbers.

Meanwhile, Vinaphone said its 3G service subscribers do not need to change their SIM cards when registering to use the new 4G service.

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