Vietnamese telco Viettel High Tech has successfully deployed and validated its 5G Open RAN gNodeB on a live network.

The state-owned telco has paired with Qualcomm to deploy 5G Open RAN network equipment with the Qualcomm X100 5G RAN Accelerator Card and Qualcomm QRU100 5G RAN Platform on a live network, featuring real users and traffic.

Earlier this year, Viettel and Qualcomm showcased an initial design of the deployment at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain.

Viettel notes that the installation site of this 5G gNodeB is within a network cluster that Viettel had deployed since 2021 in Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, Vietnam.

It adds that this area is a 'typical representation of the 5G deployment model in urban areas with dense populations and proximity to university campuses, boasting a high concentration of subscribers, ranging between 300-400 subscribers in a cell.'

During the deployment, the 5G gNodeB was able to achieve downlink throughput of 850Mbps in real-network scenarios. Viettel said it plans to introduce these products into it other international markets.

"This is a seminal moment for 5G Open RAN and Qualcomm 5G RAN platforms, fueling modern networks underscored by architecture flexibility, power efficiency and uncompromised performance," said Gerardo Giaretta, VP of product management, Qualcomm Technologies.

"Deploying a robust 5G infrastructure is not an easy task for network operators and equipment manufacturers. It is increasingly challenging to achieve a balance between factors such as high capacity, low latency, and reasonable costs," added Nguyen Vu Ha, CEO of Viettel High Tech.

"To enhance competitiveness and establish Viettel as a reputable global provider, we must continually improve our products and focus on key factors: high performance, Open RAN compliance, low power consumption, virtualization, and cloud-native design."