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Mobile data in Vietnam is cheap and fast, with 5G in the big cities. The real choice is between a Vietnam eSIM you install before you fly and a local SIM card from a counter at the airport. Since April 2026, that second option comes with a face scan. Here’s how the two compare, what they cost, and the one thing a data-only eSIM can’t do.
Staying connected in Vietnam
- Networks: Viettel (the largest, with the widest rural coverage), VinaPhone and MobiFone. All three run 5G.
- eSIM: bought online, installed at home, working on landing. Data only, no Vietnamese number.
- Local SIM: passport and a face check at the counter. Comes with a local number and calls.
- Price: roughly 100,000 to 300,000 dong (US$4 to $12) for a month of data at an airport counter, less in town.
- Emergency: 113 police, 114 fire, 115 ambulance. Not reachable over a data-only eSIM.
- Wi-Fi: free in nearly every hotel and café.
Vietnam’s mobile networks
Three big carriers share the country, all of them state-owned. Viettel is the largest and has the widest coverage in the mountains and the countryside. It launched Vietnam’s first commercial 5G network in October 2024. VinaPhone, part of VNPT, had 5G across the country by early 2025, and MobiFone switched on its own 5G in March 2025. Vietnamobile is a much smaller fourth network.
In Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hoi An, you won’t notice much difference between them. It shows on a motorbike loop in the far north or on a boat in Ha Long Bay, where Viettel’s rural coverage is the reason most people pick it.
Vietnam eSIM: the easy option
A travel eSIM is a data plan you buy online and add to your phone as a second line. Install it at home over Wi-Fi, leave it off, and switch it on when the plane lands, with data roaming enabled for that line. It runs on a Vietnamese network, often Viettel, although not every provider says which.
What you get is data and nothing else: no Vietnamese phone number, no calls, no text messages. For maps, WhatsApp, Zalo and Grab, that’s plenty. Your home SIM can stay on in the other slot to receive bank codes. Keep data roaming off on that one, or your carrier’s daily roaming fee kicks in.
Viettel also sells its own 30-day tourist eSIM on its website, if you’d rather buy from the carrier. Whichever you choose, check first that your phone supports eSIM and isn’t locked to your home carrier. The four checks in our guide to whether your phone works in Japan apply in Vietnam too.
Vietnam SIM card: buying one at the airport
The international arrivals halls at Noi Bai in Hanoi, Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang all have carrier counters after customs. Bring your passport. The staff register the SIM to it, put it in your phone and check it works before you walk away.
Prices move all the time. Expect somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000 dong, about US$4 to $12, for 30 days of generous data, with local call minutes in the pricier packs. The carriers’ own shops in town charge less than the airport. Either way, it’s one of the cheapest mobile deals in Asia.
The local SIM’s advantage is the number. A Vietnamese number receives the text-message codes some local apps and hotels send, lets a homestay host or a driver call you, and can dial the emergency services.
The 2026 face-check rule for SIM cards
Vietnam has spent two years tightening SIM registration to fight scam calls. Decree 163, in force since 1 January 2025, requires subscriber details to be checked against official records. Circular 08/2026, in force since 15 April 2026, adds a face check when a SIM is registered and again whenever the owner moves the number to a different phone. On 20 August 2026 the carriers cut off around 13 million numbers whose owners hadn’t completed the checks, VnExpress reported.
For a two-week trip this changes little. The counter scans your passport, photographs your face, and the SIM works. It matters in two cases. Don’t buy a ready-activated SIM from a street stall or a hotel desk: an unverified number can be suspended halfway through your trip. And an old Vietnamese SIM from a previous visit, moved into a new phone, will ask you to verify again.
A data-only eSIM can't call 113, 114 or 115
Vietnam’s emergency numbers are 113 for the police, 114 for fire and 115 for an ambulance. A data-only eSIM has no voice line, so it can’t reach them. Keep your home SIM switched on as a second line, which can still place emergency calls through a local network, or buy a local SIM with calls.
Grab, Zalo and apps that want a number
Grab is how most visitors get around Vietnamese cities, and it asks for a phone number and a one-time code when you sign up. Your home number works. Create the account before you fly, while your home SIM still receives texts reliably, rather than at the airport with roaming off.
Zalo is Vietnam’s everyday messaging app, and hotels, tour operators and homestay hosts often use it instead of WhatsApp. It runs over any data connection, eSIM included, but registration also needs a number that can receive a code. Install it at home too.
Vietnam eSIM or SIM card: which one?
| If you… | Get | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Want to land connected, with no queue | Travel eSIM | Installed at home, working as soon as you land |
| Need a Vietnamese number for calls or text codes | Local SIM from the airport counter | Number, calls and cheap data, registered to your passport |
| Plan a motorbike loop in the far north | Viettel SIM, or an eSIM on Viettel | Widest rural coverage |
| Have a phone without eSIM | Local SIM | A physical card works in any unlocked phone |
What we would actually do
Install a data-only Vietnam eSIM at home, set up Grab and Zalo before leaving, and keep the home SIM on for calls and bank codes. For a motorbike loop in the north or a long stay with local hosts, we’d add a Viettel SIM from the airport counter for the number and the rural coverage.
Before you fly, check the Vietnam e-visa rules, then read our guides to Vietnam currency, tipping in Vietnam and the best time to visit Vietnam. Carrying on to Thailand? The Thailand eSIM guide covers the same choice there, and our eSIM, pocket Wi-Fi or SIM table for Japan does it for Japan.
Looking for the rest? Every Vietnam guide we’ve published, from the e-visa to the eSIM, is sorted by topic in our Vietnam travel guide.
Sources
- Ministry of Science and Technology — Viettel’s commercial 5G launch, October 2024.
- Ministry of Science and Technology — MobiFone joins 5G, March 2025.
- VnExpress International — 13 million unverified numbers cut off, August 2026.
- Viettel — tourist SIM and eSIM packages.
- Ministry of Agriculture and Environment — national emergency and rescue hotlines.
Data checked: 2026-09-28
