Hanoi - Post Report Question and Answers
Do you have any recommendations regarding mobile phones? Did you keep your home-country plan or use a local provider?
4G data plans are very cheap and plentiful. 2gb of data per day can be had for under $10 USA per month. - Aug 2021
Cheap and easy. Prepaid Viettel is $8 for 15 GB over 30 days. - Dec 2019
Take an unlocked phone and you can get SIM cards locally, multiple options: pay as you go, monthly rates, etc. - Jul 2019
Bring an unlocked phone. Sim cards are easy to come by. There are a few major carriers, but it can be difficult to understand what you are signing up for or purchasing. I got a SIM card and fill up with scratch-off cards occasionally, but I still have no idea what I spend for calls/text/etc. I probably spent $40 to get the sim card, and about $10/month for data/text/calls. Much cheaper than the US. - Apr 2018
Bring an unlocked mobile phone and use a SIM from Viettel, the most reliable provider. The embassy local staff can set you up with a decent plan (less than $30/mo for a decent chunk of minutes and 2-3GB high speed internet) but you can get even cheaper rates if you do a bit of your own research. Smartphones are incredibly useful here for getting around, as Google Maps and several local food rating sites work very well throughout the country. - Dec 2017
readily available - May 2016
Bring an unlocked GSM phone. - Mar 2015
State control of the cell phone industry means dirt cheap prices. I paid US$5-10/month for 3G data. Well sometimes it was more like 2G or 2.5G but the price was right. - Aug 2014
SIM cards and pre-paid loads are available everywhere on the street. Real cheap. Plenty of shops to buy a phone. The Vietnamese love their cell phones and text all the time, including while driving their scooters. - Dec 2011
The embassy will issue you a cell phone. If you need a second one, it's relatively cheap - pay as you go. - May 2010
Excellent cell phone service available throughout the country. - Feb 2009
Cell phones are plentiful, cheap, and readily available, and most people have and use cell phones for their communication needs. However they are generally limited to calling and text messages and do not have the more advanced options of internet surfing or email. Most use prepaid phone cards. There are seven local cell phone providers with Mobiphone and Viettel being the most popular. Cell service is generally not bad but there are a few locations such as inside buildings or the remote countryside where coverage is weak. International roaming is only available for cell phones with contracts. In order to sign up for a contract service one must have identification indicating residence in Vietnam and go to the main post office to fill out the paperwork and make a substantial deposit. The Embassy provides cell phones to all staff but requires certification of all international calls. - Sep 2008
Cell phones are a dime a dozen here. Limited CDMA service, everything else is GSM. Embassy will issue a cell phone for the employee. Prepaid SIM cards are available everywhere and service is dirt cheap. I am not aware of anyone using their cell phones for long distance so cannot comment on costs doing so. The embassy issued phones have roaming enabled for all surrounding countries, so calling home when TDY within the region is no problem. - May 2008
