Job Discussion Forums

[jessicamacquire]

Hello. I'm new to Vietnam....and need to get connected... which is the best pre-paid service provider to go for in Vietnam?

[sigmoid]

[ghostdog]

There are actually five: Mobiphone, Vinaphone, Viettel, S-Fone, and Cityphone. Most foreigners seem to use Mobiphone, probably because there are English translations for most of the services and some of the initial literature.

Mobiphone has two pre-paid card services: Mobicard and Mobi4U. The former works out better if you make a lot of calls--there's no monthly or daily fee and you have a certain number of days to use the amount on your pre-paid cards. Mobi4U works better if you don't make many calls--there's a daily charge of around 2,200 dong, but the calling rates are significantly less. About a year ago, you could get a starter package with a SIM card and 300,000 dong of credit for the price of the credit alone; I don't know if that is still the case.

Some of the other companies have slightly cheaper rates but I don't know if you can get any assistance in English. It's a hassle if you want to check your balance, for example, and can only do so in Vietnamese if you don't speak it.

[huxter]

Vinaphone also has a good English service and the girls on the helpline always do their utmost. I won't go into pricing details - it's just cheap, cheap, cheap (compared to what you're no doubt used to in the West and relative to your teaching salary in Vietnam).

[belle]

We have been here a week and were disappointed to find the sim cards would not work on our phones. We ended up having to buy another phone - fortunately second hand.