Where to get a SIM card, and which operator

Hi,

MobiFone is a good provider.
If you just use the SIM card for a short term, just go to any shop on street and buy a prepaid SIM card with a certain denomination and validity.
If you use for a long term (I mean years) you should go to official agencies of MobiFone, buy a prepaid SIM card and register personal information. In case that you lose your phone or your SIM card is broken, you can go to any MobiFone agencies to easily get a new one with same number.
After having a SIM card in your hand, you can add internet packages afterwards, according to your needs.
Here the official website for detailed information. mobifone.com.vn/portal1/en/
And you can find the nearest MobiFone agency here (The list is not avaiable in English)
mobifone.com.vn/portal1/vn/services/home/distribution/distribute_tphcm.jsp
I hope this will help.

Minh

Compare to other countries, geting a prepaid SIM card and surfing Web and accessing Email are cheaper. You get 1.5 GB when you pay 120000vnd (about 4.7 euro). And lots of small restaurants and cafe provides free wifi, you just ask them.

Hi,

There is a big mobifone shop in VincomB building. They will consult you what services which are suitable to your needs. Or simple, just buy a sim card in the Tan Son Nhat airport

This is the list of mobifone shops in hcm: https://www.mobifone.com.vn/portal/vn/g … %20HCM%201

Regards

Mobiphone is owned by Vinaphone and they share facilities - almost 100% coverage of the country.

Mobiphone is geared towards the younger user and they have an extensive list of youth and tourist user features. Better you buy from the official Mobiphone service office in HCM, behind the Main Post Office on NGUYEN DU. GPS: 10.780208, 106.700796

You will need your passport - a government law. The official Mobiphone offers you limited choice of numbers. GET YOUR CELL UNLOCKED AT ANY DEALER - around $5-10.

If you have an iThingy send me a PM and I will dig out where you can get it OFFICIALLY unlocked through Apple. Around USD$100.

Vinaphone offers a plan whereby as long as you make one voice call a month, it will extend a prepaid card's validity for a month. USD$100 lasted me over 4 years of SMS!

If you use an iThingy be careful. One iPhone can make a drug user enough money for a week or more supply of drugs.

I just check and I have Viettel SIM card. How is this compare with others?

I was just in Hanoi last month (not HCM) and bought a tourist SIM from Viettel in the airport.  The cost was low (around $12 I think), with limited phone minutes (30, per the plan we were on, but that covered international as well), and with unlimited data.

I thought the speed might be an issue under those circumstances but it wasn't bad.  I didn't test it but at a guess it was 1 to 2 Meg, not great for downloads or streaming video but fine for messaging and such.  I was also surprised at the coverage; it worked almost everywhere we went, even way out in the country, trekking in the mountain villages around Sapa.  Data speed did drop off quite a bit in remote areas but I was surprised it still worked.

Jaitch wrote:

Mobiphone is owned by Vinaphone and they share facilities - almost 100% coverage of the country.

Mobiphone is geared towards the younger user and they have an extensive list of youth and tourist user features. Better you buy from the official Mobiphone service office in HCM, behind the Main Post Office on NGUYEN DU. GPS: 10.780208, 106.700796

You will need your passport - a government law. The official Mobiphone offers you limited choice of numbers. GET YOUR CELL UNLOCKED AT ANY DEALER - around $5-10.

If you have an iThingy send me a PM and I will dig out where you can get it OFFICIALLY unlocked through Apple. Around USD$100.

Vinaphone offers a plan whereby as long as you make one voice call a month, it will extend a prepaid card's validity for a month. USD$100 lasted me over 4 years of SMS!

If you use an iThingy be careful. One iPhone can make a drug user enough money for a week or more supply of drugs.

This is very helpful, thank you.

bkk tea blog wrote:

I was just in Hanoi last month (not HCM) and bought a tourist SIM from Viettel in the airport. 

... I was also surprised at the coverage; it worked almost everywhere we went, even way out in the country, trekking in the mountain villages around Sapa.  Data speed did drop off quite a bit in remote areas but I was surprised it still worked.

Ha Noi always gets the newest, latest technology first - after all it's where the politicians hang out. Viettel is owned by the VN military. Bee is owned by the Interior Security Ministry.

SaPa (Chapa) in Lao Cai Province, along with several other adjacent provinces have wide-area data coverage with local transmitter/receiver repeaters located in villages and hamlets throughout the region.

Many moons ago I was involved in a charity which installed several  WiFi repeaters, solar powered, on a few mountain tops in Son La Province. These were used to provide free voice transmission between scatted indigenous tribes separated by mountains.

Later VNPT put the wide-area 4G into operation and 'adopted' our mountain sites. They carefully removed, packed and shipped the equipment back to the charity and it was deployed in the Central Highlands.

Lao Cai City also has a HF (shortwave) transmitter that serves indigenous people in their own languages. Satellite dishes abound as terrestrial TV is very difficult in places.

Hi all, can Mobifone unlock my iPhone for me too?