Early access to Qualcomm's 6G platform
Viettel High Tech, the technology arm of Vietnamese state-owned operator Viettel Group, has become the first participant in Qualcomm's 6G Early Access Program. Under the agreement, Viettel will receive early access to Qualcomm's developing 6G chipsets, technology platforms, development tools and dedicated engineering support, while Viettel will research, evaluate, test and integrate the technologies into its network infrastructure and self-developed devices. Qualcomm's contribution includes technical expertise and advanced testing methodologies. The arrangement allows Viettel to begin designing equipment in parallel with Qualcomm's chipset development rather than waiting for a commercial release, but the 6G platform remains a development environment rather than a finished processor or complete network system, and no commercial chipset, frequency band, base-station configuration or release date has been identified. The agreement was signed in Hanoi, with Nguyen Minh Quang, chief executive of Viettel High Technology Industries Corporation, signing alongside Durga Malladi, Qualcomm Technologies' executive vice president and general manager for technology planning, edge solutions and data centre.
Joint target of a pre-commercial 6G call in early 2029
Viettel and Qualcomm have set a goal of completing the first pre-commercial 6G call by early 2029. The call would run on infrastructure researched, designed, integrated, manufactured and tested by Viettel, with the two companies evaluating how Viettel-designed equipment performs against Qualcomm's 6G platform under real operating conditions. The broader program also covers AI, data centre technologies and advanced digital products. Viettel joined Qualcomm's 6G industry coalition at Mobile World Congress in March to work on a milestone-driven roadmap aimed at commercial 6G systems starting in 2029, and also signed separate 6G agreements at the same event with Intel, AMD and ID Quantique. Viettel described its selection as the first time Qualcomm has launched such an initiative with a Vietnamese technology company rather than one from established hubs such as the United States or South Korea.
Push into markets where Huawei and ZTE lead
Alongside the 6G work, the two companies agreed to expand international markets for Viettel's 5G equipment across Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and Latin America, with Qualcomm introducing Viettel to operators and partners in those regions. Those four regions are where Huawei and ZTE have built their strongest positions outside China, largely on price and financing terms that Ericsson and Nokia have struggled to match. For Qualcomm, which sells chipsets rather than base stations, the arrangement extends its silicon into infrastructure tenders it would otherwise have no route into. For Hanoi, it advances a long-standing policy goal of turning "Make in Vietnam" telecoms equipment into an export industry. The operator has been classified as a Niche Player in Gartner's 2025 Magic Quadrant for CSP 5G RAN infrastructure solutions.
Foundation in existing 5G Open RAN collaboration
The agreement extends a relationship that began with a 5G Open RAN collaboration announced in May 2022, under which Qualcomm provided 5G radio-access platforms and Viettel contributed hardware and software for radio and distributed units. Viettel has deployed 24,000 5G base stations across Vietnam and plans to add 20,000 more this year, with more than 15 percent of that equipment researched and produced by Viettel High Tech. The Viettel-Qualcomm 5G Open RAN solution delivers up to 24 percent energy savings under high-load conditions, according to the company's own figures. While Huawei and ZTE have separately secured parts of Vietnam's 5G procurement market, Viettel and Qualcomm are positioning Viettel-built equipment for export to other emerging markets.
6G standards remain under development
Global standards needed for interoperable 6G networks remain under development. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project says Release 20 covers early 6G studies, while Release 21 contains the normative work that turns research into technical specifications. Technology proposals for the International Telecommunication Union's IMT-2030 process are due in early 2029, with resulting system specifications expected by mid-2030 at the latest. Laboratory tests and pre-commercial demonstrations could happen sooner, but they would not constitute a public 6G launch. Viettel and Qualcomm have not disclosed performance results, working prototypes, procurement plans, operator-testing dates or a commercial release schedule, and the next verifiable milestones will be published interoperability results, named prototypes, documented network trials and Viettel's contributions to 3GPP standardisation work.
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