Indochina Telecom on Thursday launched Vietnam’s first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) ITelecom, increasing the number of telecom service providers in the Southeast Asian country to six.

The five veteran mobile network operators in Vietnam include Vinaphone, MobiFone, Viettel, Vietnamobile, and G-tel.

An MVNO is a wireless communications service provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides the service to its customers.

Newcomer ITelecom obtained access to network services from telecom market leader Vinaphone under a business agreement to offer its own network service.

Prefixing phone numbers on its network with 087, ITelecom says it is committed to offering flexible telecom services and stable quality at reasonable costs.

The company’s deputy general director Luu Anh Son said the virtual model helps save considerable costs, time, and effort whilst still ensuring quality for its users.

For Vinaphone, the agreement offers an opportunity to resell voice and data packages and share network operating costs, allowing the telecom giant to ultimately add to its bottom line.

Indochina Telecom’s services are currently offered to workers in industrial parks in nine provinces and cities including Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh in northern Vietnam, and Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City, Long An and Dong Nai in the south.

The operator’s most popular package allows users to enjoy all under-20-minute calls within its and Vinaphone’s networks, as well as 30-minute calls to other networks and 3GB of daily Internet data at a cost of VND77,000 (US$3.3) a month.

ITelecom has yet to establish its own system of representative offices in Vietnam, instead relying on wholesale and authorized agents to connect with customers – a system which could potentially inconvenience customers in need of customer or tech support.

To overcome this drawback, the operator plans to ink agreements with other networks to contract out such services at reasonable prices, while providing a variety of packages to different groups and user segments, according to Son.

Established in 2008, Indochina Telecom has more than a decade of experience in providing basic mobile network and Internet services across Vietnam.

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