Viettel has announced it will invest US$33 million in the US, its first developed market, but will focus on international calling to Vietnam and other countries where it has a presence.
The military-owned company will set up Viettel America with a capital of $100,000, and lend the subsidiary the remaining $32.9 million.
Le Dang Dung, Viettel's deputy director, explained why it had chosen a different strategy this time despite profitably running mobile and internet networks in several countries.
"It would cost tens of billions of dollars to set up a telecom network in the US, and Viettel stands no chance of competing in the mobile sector in such a developed market," he told news website Saigon Times.
Last year the company reported revenues of VND140 trillion ($6.65 billion) of which 15 percent came from abroad.
This year it targets a 50 percent growth in overseas markets.
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