Vietnam's Viettel among world's 3 fastest mobile networks

Ookla has announced the Speedtest Awards for the best performing carriers in the first half of 2025. Vietnam had podium finishers in two of the 15 categories, Fastest Mobile Network and Fastest 5G Mobile Network.

In the blue riband Fastest Mobile Network category, Viettel scored 82.56 points to finish behind the UAE's e& (88.05 points) and Qatar's Ooredoo (87.05). Viettel outperformed Singapore's Singtel, which got 82.53 points.

In the Fastest 5G Mobile Network category, Vinaphone claimed second place with a score of 78.11. The UAE's e& won once again with 81.94 points.

The rankings of two Vietnamese carriers, Viettel and Vinaphone, for Fastest Mobile Network (above) and Fastest 5G Mobile Network (below). Photo by courtesy of Ookla

Ookla did not disclose its scoring formula but said the score is calculated based on a weighted combination, with download speed accounting for 70 points on a scale of 100, upload speed for 20 and network latency for 10.

To qualify, a carrier must have been the subject of at least 3% of total tests in its region during the half-year. Viettel recorded the highest number of tests across 3G, 4G and 5G networks with 923,141, while Vinaphone had 179,822 tests for 5G.

U.S. company Ookla is a global leader in Internet speed measurement, with its Speedtest tool used by hundreds of millions of users. Founded in 2006, the independent company provides data based on billions of tests each year. Its reports and awards are frequently cited by telecom regulators, carriers and the media.

Ookla has a transparent methodology, large data sets and the ability to deliver in-depth analysis by region, device and time.

A person using SpeedTest. Photo by VnExpress/Luu Quy

At a press conference held by the Ministry of Science and Technology on Aug. 5, Nguyen Phong Nha, Deputy Director of the Authority of Telecommunications, attributed Vietnam’s strong mobile internet performance to the aggressive rollout of 5G services. He noted that older technologies such as 2G and 3G have been phased out already or would be soon.

"Mobile carriers have had the chance to upgrade their services and equipment. Users have moved away from 2G handsets and are gradually replacing 3G devices with newer technologies. This led to a significant boost in speed."

According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, 26% of the population has access to 5G services.

In April Viettel chairman Tao Duc Thang announced plans to have 20,000 5G base stations by this year to cover 95% of all urban residential areas in the country.

According to data from i-Speed, a service by the Vietnam Internet Center, the country’s average mobile data speed in the second quarter of 2025 was 75.19 Mbps.

Viettel led with 83.6 Mbps, up 26% from last year, followed by VNPT with 70.71 Mbps and MobiFone with 52.47 Mbps.