Internet and cellular communication in Vietnam

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Mobile Internet in Vietnam also works well on beaches

As in most Southeast Asian countries, Internet and cellular communication in Vietnam works well and quickly. But in order not to get into big expenses, you should, of course, prepare for this issue, which we will discuss further.

✔ The simplest and least expensive option to be in touch in Vietnam during a vacation is to do nothing at all and not connect anything, and most importantly, turn off the data transfer on your phone. Then you will not pay for communication in international roaming at the crazy rates of Russian operators, and in order to contact your loved ones and "post" a couple of photos on the social network, just use free Wi-Fi in hotels and restaurants. After all, there is hotel WiFi here even in the cheapest accommodation options, and in most cases even in the room, and not just in common areas. In most cases, this is enough for a short trip of 10-14 days on a tour to one resort.

If you have a long and difficult trip to Vietnam with a change of cities, or you need the Internet and communication all the time for work, then you will have the following options to choose from:

• Use the international roaming of your operator (it is in any case significantly expensive)
• Buy an international tourist SIM card (a little cheaper, but not suitable for a one-time trip)
• Buy a local SIM card for tourists (cheaper several times than roaming)
• Buy a local prepaid SIM card and activate the service packages yourself (this is the most profitable option)

We will tell you about each option in more detail, and you will only have to choose what is more suitable:

International roaming of a home operator

Using a home SIM card while roaming in Vietnam is very expensive, especially if you forget to connect the options and accidentally go online or make/receive a call. Russian operators offer paid plug-in options to save on international roaming, but they still cost much more than a local or tourist SIM card.

We have compiled the tariffs and options of Russian operators as of 2025 into a table, but they may change, so double-check the information on the links before traveling.

Buy an international travel SIM card or eSIM

Previously, international travel SIM cards were very common and really allowed you to save money while traveling, but they were really profitable only for those who travel a lot and often with a change of countries. For one or two trips during the year, they did not give any advantage. In addition, now it has become completely unprofitable to buy such a physical SIM card with delivery, because it is delivered from abroad from "unfriendly" countries. There are only options left for those travelers whose smartphone supports an electronic e-SIM card. You can buy an e-sim on these sites, there is also all the information about tariffs:

• Trip.com (accepts Russian cards)
• E-sim Airalo (Russian bank cards are not accepted)
• E-sim Yesim (Russian bank cards are not accepted)

Buy a local SIM card for tourists

• Where to buy: at the airport, in travel agencies, online at trip.com.
• How much does it cost: a SIM card already with a balance and an Internet package and minutes for a minimum period of 7 days from 180,000 VND / 7.03 rubles
• Validity period: SIM card rates for tourists are usually valid for up to 14 days, after that you need to replenish it and you can use it further with any operator's tariff as a regular local SIM card.

Sale of SIM cards at the airport

A local SIM card for tourists in Vietnam is not something special and special, but the most common prepaid SIM card, which was simply activated in advance for a local resident and set up a tariff for use by tourists. All you have to do is install it on your phone, the sellers will even install it themselves, and you can start using it right away. The convenience here is obvious: you don't need to study local tariffs and setup features, you don't need to know English and Vietnamese, and you can buy this SIM card right at the airport upon arrival, and start using it from the first steps. In addition, options are specially selected for tourists so that international calls are already included in the cost, i.e. you can call home.

Of course, for such convenience you will have to overpay a little (about 2-3 times more expensive than a prepaid SIM card in your name), but in any case it is more profitable than roaming a home operator. In general, if you just came to rest on tour in one hotel, then we recommend this option or you can buy a SIM card online and get it at the airport.

Buy a local prepaid SIM card

• Where to buy: in communication salons, supermarkets, street vendors
• How much does it cost: a SIM card from 50,000 VND (1.95 RUB), tariffs from 10,000 VND (rate temporary unavailable/span> rub).
• Validity period: the SIM card itself is valid indefinitely when it is actively used, tariffs are valid from 1 day to several months.

Using a regular local SIM card in Vietnam, by and large, is no different from how it is done in any other Southeast Asian country or at home. Ie, you buy a card, replenish the balance, select and activate the tariff, after which the subscription fee of the tariff is debited from the card balance and it works for a certain period of time. After the expiration of its validity or the consumption of minutes/ Internet, it is either automatically extended or can choose a different tariff. Also, already activated SIM cards with a paid tariff and balance are sold, but usually these are offered by private sellers on the streets and in retail stores.

Unfortunately, in Vietnam, with the purchase of such a SIM card, everything is not very simple. The fact is that on the websites of mobile operator companies, information is presented mainly in Vietnamese, sellers in communication salons and supermarkets also often do not speak English, so it's not easy to figure it out. And even if you successfully buy and replenish the SIM card, you still have to activate it and connect the tariff you like, and all the instructions and applications of the operators are again in Vietnamese. Therefore, it is best to prepare for this issue in advance, especially in determining the tariff and choosing an operator, at least in order to know how much to initially replenish the balance. But let's talk about everything in order:

Which operators work in Vietnam and what to choose

There are four major mobile operators in Vietnam:

• Viettel
• Vinaphone
• Mobifone
• Vietnamobile

Each of them operates throughout Vietnam without roaming, coverage area and quality are almost the same, prices are also plus or minus on a par. A not very good exception to the list is the Vietnamese Automobile. This operator has a weak coverage area, there are few points of sale, so it's better not to use it yet, despite very attractive tariffs. Mobifone also does not have a good coverage area in forests, mountains, roads and small towns, but if you are vacationing at a large resort, then there will be no problems with Mobifone.

So the choice of the operator is simple: the tariff of which of them you like the most, and choose that, just not the Vietnamobile. We tell you more about the tariffs below in the form of a table.

In general, in our subjective opinion, the coverage area in Vietnam is very good compared to Russia. This is not surprising, given the size of the country. In our own experience, we did not experience communication problems even when traveling in deserted places to waterfalls in the Dalat area: the signal was almost everywhere, although not everywhere there was Internet speed.

Where to buy a SIM card in Vietnam

Local SIM cards are sold at airports (with a large mark-up for tourists), in travel agencies and even just from street vendors in tourist areas. But if you need a prepaid local SIM card without intermediaries at the real price of the mobile operator and with registration in your name, you will have to visit the official communication salon. Unfortunately, in Vietnam this is not an easy and tedious procedure, comparable to the way we issue a bank account. I.e. you need a passport, you will be photographed, you will have to sign something, etc. The whole procedure may take 30-60 minutes.

The cheapest way to buy a SIM card in Vietnam is in offices like these

Call centers can be found while walking down the street or on Google maps by searching for the names of mobile operators. It is better to look for large salons with a bank-like setting, since small private shops that sell or repair cell phones, replenish accounts, etc. sometimes work under the sign of mobile operators. In general, they do anything except selling and registering a SIM card.

And under such signs, the SIM card may not be sold

Theoretically, you can buy an empty card in the salons, replenish it, and then choose and activate the tariff yourself. Blank cards sell from 50,000 VND. But in practice, it is not easy to buy an empty SIM card, and I will immediately impose a tariff on you to choose. They offer, of course, more expensive tariffs, so it's better to decide on the right tariff yourself in advance and purposefully go to buy it.

But in principle, there is no great point in buying an empty card without a tariff, since it is these tariffs or packages that allow you to save on communication. Ie, imagine that you buy a card, top it up with the cost of the tariff, make a call or the phone will automatically go online to receive data, and then the fee will be charged expensive by minutes or megabytes. Then you will no longer have enough balance to purchase a package (tariff), and you will have to replenish it again with the spent amount.

How to top up a SIM card in Vietnam

If you buy a local SIM card for single use, i.e. immediately with the paid fare for one trip, then you probably won't have to top up anything at all. You will have to top it up if you buy a completely empty card with zero balance, if you use all the limits of minutes or Internet at the tariff, or if the tariff expires and you need to extend it or change it to another one.

Another reason to top up is if you need to make an international call home. In this case, the cost will be charged by the minute for voice calls at the operator's tariff, and not from the minutes package.

You can top up your card at least in the following ways:

• Online on the operator's websites or through the operator's applications. But Russian maps don't work here.
• Cash in communication salons and at the cash desks of chain supermarkets, usually 7-eleven.
• Using a top-up sketch card. Buy a card or several cards of the desired denomination (the nominal value is usually 10, 20, 50, 100 thousand VND), erase the protective layer on the card, dial the USSD code on the phone, and the balance will be instantly replenished.
• Privately in cash through hotel staff, hotel guides. Give them cash, they will replenish your balance from their wallet.

Do not be surprised that you will have to pay a little more than face value for replenishment at the cash desks or for a sketch card. For example, for a deposit of 100,000, they may ask for 105,000 VND.

How to activate, manage and configure a SIM card

Activation or registration of a new SIM card is done at the time of sale, for this you need your passport or a copy of it. But as we noted above, sometimes SIM cards are sold already activated and with a balance on another person, which is not very good.

After activation, you can control the SIM card and check the balance using USSD codes. You will receive a list of the main commands along with the map and in welcome SMS messages. But by default, all messages will come in Vietnamese, it can be changed to English, here are the instructions:

• Viettel

  • Call 900.
  • Press 4 (Change language settings menu).
  • Dial 2 (to select the English language).
  • Dial 1 to save the selected language.

• Mobifone

  • Call 900.
  • Press 5 (Change language settings menu).
  • Dial 1 (to select English).
  • Dial 1 to save the selected language.

• Vinaphone

  • Call 900.
  • Press 3 (Change language settings menu).
  • Dial 1 (to select English).
  • Dial 1 to save the selected language.

But to be honest, management via USSD is the last century. It is better to install applications from operators, and you will see all the information about the balance, balances and usage at once, you will be able to choose tariffs and replenish the balance. Ideally, select an operator before the trip and install the app at home:

• Viettel App Android / iOS (Vietnamese only)
• The Mobifone App Android / iOS (partially in English)
• Vinaphone App Android / iOS (partially in English)
• The Vietnam Mobile App Android / iOS (partially in English)

Which tariff to choose (with a table of tariffs)

Various tariffs (packages) can include only Internet traffic, only minutes, maybe both traffic and minutes, there is additionally unlimited access to social networks and local television, etc. It is cheaper to choose a tariff exclusively for the Internet without additional options, and if necessary, make calls via instant messengers, especially since nothing is blocked in Vietnam and everything works without a VPN.

The tariffs in the table may change, and we have not collected all of them for comparison (as there are many dozens of them), so before traveling, it is better to study the information additionally on the operator's websites using links, and an online translator will help you. also keep in mind that not all tariffs on the sites are available for new subscribers, there are certain conditions for their connection, such as that you must be a customer for at least so many months or must spend at least such an amount on communication.

How to call Russia from Vietnam with a local SIM card

Whichever tariff you choose from the table above, you will not be able to call the Russian Federation within its framework, since standard packages or tariffs include only local calls. Therefore, you will have to replenish the balance or provide in advance when replenishing, so that after paying for the package there will be a positive balance, from where the fee will be charged already after international calls. You can make a calculation based on these prices:

• The cost of a minute of international call from Vietnam to Russia is 4000 VND / 0.16 rubles
• SMS to a number in Russia – 2500 VND / 0.1 rubles
• Outgoing calls to local numbers – 1800 VND (0.07 rub) or free of charge if your tariff includes minutes
• All incoming SMS and calls are free of charge

To make a call in the Russian Federation, you do not need to dial any additional codes, but everything is as usual - you dial the country code + 7 and then the number.

Is it possible to distribute the Internet from a local SIM card in Vietnam

Yes, you can. If you buy a local SIM card in Vietnam, you can easily set up a distribution point via WiFi (Hot Spot) and use the Internet on multiple devices.

How much mobile Internet (what tariff) should I choose in Vietnam

How much Internet traffic to choose for traveling in Vietnam is an individual question and depends on the specific situation.

For understanding, simple text messages in instant messengers without video and images take up a few kilobytes. To view one page of an average site, for example, such as this one, it will take 1-3 megabytes. If there are a lot of images on the page, then it can already be up to 10 megabytes. A lot of traffic goes away when using online maps, translators, voice dialing. But most of all it takes to watch or download videos, there are already dozens of megabytes.

If you suddenly forgot, then 1 gigabyte is 1000 megabytes (well, actually 1024, but marketers use 1000). It turns out that 1 gigabyte will allow you to use instant messengers during the day, browse pages with images in a reasonable amount, use online maps and navigation, but this will not be enough to watch videos without restrictions.

From personal experience, we always take 20-30 gigabytes for a 1-month trip with active movements, using online maps, viewing social networks (without video), for booking tickets and hotels during the trip. This is always enough and there is still unused traffic with economical spending and using WiFi in hotels. If you need a network for entertainment, i.e. watching videos, playing online games, making video calls, then this amount will not be enough.

Now in Vietnam, tariffs with daily limits are popular, i.e. when the tariff, for example, is valid for 30 days, and every day a few gigabytes are given, which do not transfer to the next day. For example, the last time we took 6Gb/day, and this is a lot, we almost never went beyond 2Gb/day on two devices. So you can safely take such a tariff, it will be enough even to watch videos.