Viettel joint venture launches services in Laos

Unitel launching ceremony in Vientiane, Laos, October 19, 2009

Unitel, which has installed 8,000 km of optical fibers in 80% of districts in Laos, will pull the fibers to all the remaining districts by the end of this year and complete the construction of a 10,000-km trans-Lao optical fiber axis running from the northern province of Phongsali to the southern province of Champasak using dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology.

Unitel currently has 25 shops, 150 agents and 5,000 sales outlets across Laos. It plans to raise the respective figures to 80, 300 and 7,500 by the end of 2010.

Starting operation in April 2008, Unitel has become Laos’ leading telecommunications operator. It offers mobile phone, PSTN and fix wireless telephone, landline and wireless broadband internet, and domestic and international leased line services.

In February, Viettel launched its mobile phone network Metfone in Cambodia. It plans to expand operations to Asia, Africa and Latin America.