Guide to Use Mobile Phone, Internet in Da Nang

Cell phones are an essential part of international inter-connected travel nowadays. Whether it be for calling home, calling hotels, planning travel logistics, map surfing, navigating, or Facebook-ing, your cell phone is the one-stop resource for it all and mobile phone will be really helpful during your trip. Of course, every country has their own system, Following will present a simple process in understanding the ins and outs of how to use mobile phone and internet in Vietnam.

How to use mobile phone in 5 easy steps

1. Think about your phone

You have three options: bring a locked phone with you, bring an unlocked phone with you, or buy a relatively cheap phone here. If you bring a locked phone, make sure you understand the terms for international roaming (this can expensive depends on your service provider; for example, T-mobile charges several dollars a minute and does not offer mobile data here). With an unlocked phone or a phone that you buy here, you can simply purchase a SIM card and have a local number. Keep in mind that the unlocked phone that you bring must be a GSM phone, but most phones are these days. Smartphones are beneficial here because you can have access to the 4G network via 4G sim card.

2. Find a sim card

There are stalls, stores, booths, carts and even bicycles that will sell SIM cards the minute that you land in Vietnam. If you can wait a bit, ask the staff at your hotel or hostel to point you towards the nearest telecommunications store. The associates at the store will provide a SIM card for you, cut the card according to your phone and install it for you. For the best coverage, ensure that the SIM card you get is either on the Viettel, Mobifone or Vinafone networks. These three companies control 90% of the mobile market in Vietnam and offer great coverage throughout the country. Before you walk out of the store, make sure you check that the phone works.

3. Set up 4G/5G

Fortunately, the three top mobile companies also provide decent 4G/5G service in Vietnam. Having 4G can be extremely beneficial to navigate around, especially since Google Maps works very well in the cities. More importantly, you can be in constant touch with the outside world via the internet, Facebook, Twitter, or social outlet of your choice! The set up is a little bit tricky but not difficult. The basic procedure is the same for all companies but the details might differ. In general, you will have to send a text message along the lines of “4G ON” to a special network number (eg. *888) and then configure your phone’s settings, but many mobile stores will do it for you. If not, they will give you the detailed procedure so you can do it on your own.

4. Understand the usage rules

There are very few differences between the companies as to how much for local calls, international calls and text messages cost, and they are quite low. To give you an idea, on Mobifone, a phone call to a cell phone on another network is 1,800 VND/min and an international text message is 2,500 VND/text. The exact details can be found on their respective websites.

The initial SIM Card that you purchase will come with pre-paid minutes in a denomination that you choose. It will also come with an expiration so choose wisely. For instance, the 100,000 VND card may expire in 7 days and the 200,000 VND card may expire in 30 days. If you plan on being in Vietnam for around 1 month, it might be beneficial to choose the option that spans the entire time you will be here. Topping up your minutes is also quite easy. In order to top up you can purchase a minutes card that looks like a ‘scratch-n-win’ card in any denomination that you want. When you scratch the card, it will reveal a 12 digit activation card. Then, simply enter *100*code# and ‘Send’. You will get a message instantly saying that your minutes have been topped up. Dial *101# to check your balance as you go.

5. Understand the phone numbers

Once you have your phone ready to go, you will need to know how to dial phone numbers here as it may be different than what you are used to. Here are the basics –

• Country Code: +84
• Trunk Prefix: 0
• International Prefix: 00
• Land Line format: Area Code (1 to 3 digits) + Phone Number (5 to 8 digits)
• Cell Phone format: 09y xxx-xxxx or 01y XXX-XXXX

FROM: Land Line TO: Local Land Line

Area Code + Phone Number

FROM: Land Line TO: Cell Phone

09y xxx-xxxx or 01yy xxx-XXXX

FROM: Cell Phone TO: Land Line

0 + Area Code + Phone Number

FROM: Cell Phone TO: Cell Phone

09y xxx-xxxx or Olyy xxx-XXXX

FROM: Anything TO: International Phone Number

00 + Country Code + (Area Code + Phone Number) or (Cell Phone format)

Other services

• Dial 1080: To get answer by operators
• Dial 1088: To connect with counselors
• Dial 801100: Auto responder

Please have a look at the list below for Vietnam Area Code

How to connect internet and wifi in Da Nang

Access to the Internet is readily available throughout Da Nang. Therefore, you can easily keep in touch with your family and to work from distance, especially for long trips.

4G service is also available from any sim card of the major cell phone service providers can be found easily in phone shops and hotels.

Nearly every restaurant, bar, and café in the city offers free WiFi access. In addition to this, Da Nang city also has built a Wireless network which serve up to 20.000 connections at the same time to satisfy the need of tourist coming to Da Nang. You can enable Wifi on your device, the smartphone/tablet/laptop will give you a notice: “Welcome to demo system of Da Nang Wifi”, you will be provided some terms of use. After clicking “Agree”, the user will be given an ID and Password which are not allowed to edit and there is a note below: “You have 20 minutes to access the network.” Next, click “Login” and you can use the “free Wifi” in 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you need to get back to the first step for the next use.

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