Job Discussion Forums

bon527 · Joined: 23 Aug 2011 Posts: 13

Hello,

I just arrived in Saigon yesterday and am looking to purchase a local cell phone and sign up for local service. Any recommendations on stores for a phone and/or plans that are reasonably priced? I'm staying in District 1, but of course can go anywhere in the city.

Thanks!

Bonnie

I'm With Stupid · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432

Forget about signing up for something. It doesn't work that way here, and even if it did, it would undoubtedly be a bureaucratic nightmare. Buy a phone. Buy a sim card. Put the sim card in the handset.

I use Viettel. My first sim was Mobifone, but they constantly send you these stupid little messages (I'm talking every ten minutes) that completely drain the battery on your phone. It is possible to stop them, but it involves phoning them up. Better to just go with a company that doesn't have such a ridiculous policy in the first place.

As for buying the phone, I bought my first cheap one from a small independent phone shop, but for my second one (quite expensive), I went to Nguyen Kim on Tran Hung Dao. I figured if something goes wrong with it, I'm probably more likely to get a replacement from a big shop like that (don't know if that's true, just guessing).

1st Sgt Welsh · Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:23 am Post subject:

Good advice from I'm With Stupid. I'm actually with Mobifone and, although it's true that you get inundated with messages at the beginning, once you put a stop to this then it's a really good phone company. Personally I didn't appreciate just how expensive mobile phones are in the West until I moved to Vietnam as, comparatively, Western prices are a complete rip off!

I've never used Viettel but whatever you do don't buy a Vinaphone sim! The credits expire way too quickly and you constantly have to keep topping up your account which I found to be an expensive and unnecessary pain in the arse.

LettersAthruZ · Joined: 25 Apr 2010 Posts: 466 Location: North Viet Nam

Sound advice from I'm with Stupid and The First Sargent.....

I use VietTel. EASY set-up on 3G (if you have a 3-G unlocked mobile phone) plus they really do seem to frequently have 50% bonus-time promotions (i.e. - purchase 100,000VND in airtime credit and obtain an additional 50,000VND in airtime credit free) and, AT LEAST twice each year, they have the 100%/double bonus airtime promotion!

Can't speak for Vina or Mobi or VietnamMobile or BeeLine......never tried any of them.

I'm With Stupid · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432

bon527 · Joined: 23 Aug 2011 Posts: 13

I really appreciate it. Off to get a phone I go..

1st Sgt Welsh · Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 5:18 am Post subject:

Demonietto · Joined: 19 Apr 2013 Posts: 50

Signed up with mobifone, a VN friend stopped the ads very easily through the super sim menu. I had a question relating to the 50% bonus promotions. How do you get these? I bought a scratcher card and added it on during a promotion day but that didn't work. Is there another way to add time? In Thailand we could pay at the register of a 711, maybe something like that would work? LettersAthruZ mentioned he does it with VietTel, I imagine it's similar. Thanks!

ExpatLuke · Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Posts: 744

I'd suggest getting Viettel. I have both Mobiphone and Viettel sims as my phone is a dual sim. I've done a fair bit of traveling around Vietnam, and Viettel is always the one that stays in service. Mobiphone seems go out from time to time. Even on more remote islands, Viettel has always worked for me.

But of course, if you're just planning to stay in the city, it doesn't matter.

cb400 · Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 274 Location: Vientiane, Laos

On vinafone they send you a sms a day before they promotion goes on and some of the shops around put up a sign with 'vinafore/mobi/viettle 50%'.

The 100% use to be a lot more often but I think they changed it. If you turn off your 3G and use viber you can a whole month on 50-60 000 VND.

TRH · Joined: 27 Oct 2011 Posts: 340 Location: Hawaii

My wife buys a card to charge my phone called 1718. It is not a SIM but it is one of the scratch cards you use to add money. It is put out by Viettel but it will work with any SIM card. I use it on a Mobiphone SIM. To use the card, you simply dial 1718 before dialing the number as you usually would.

I am sorry that I don't know the exact numbers but I do know that for long distance calls to the US, your balance goes down at a small fraction of the rate for regular plans. I assume the card is good to the UK or AU as well but you might want to ask someone who speaks VN to ask about that one. I think there may be a small advantage with local calls but, as my wife does not use it on her phone, it must not be much. Another nice thing is that the loading and use instructions are bilingual and the number that you call to check your balance is too. Like most cards they have 150% specials that depend on when you load your scratch off number into the system.

mangoman · Joined: 29 Jul 2013 Posts: 3

Viettel all the way. And to activate the International Roaming, send CVQT to *138#

Works like a charm.