The military-run group can test in Hanoi with a maximum of 140 base stations while MobiFone can do so in HCM City with 50 base stations.
The licence will be evaluated by the end of June 2021.
The tests are expected to help the companies evaluate their technology and market size before launching commercial operations.
Both Viettel and MobiFone are allowed to test mobile ground telecommunication networks using radio frequency bands with International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020 Standard) technology according to 5G specifications (3GPP) standard version 15 and subsequent versions.
Mobile subscribers of the network operators who are connected to public telecommunications networks can join the commercial test.
The companies need to follow cybersecurity safety and privacy regulations while running the tests, the ministry said.
