Vietnam mobile carrier giant Viettel has revealed a new store design and significant branding revamp as it expands its services and moves into overseas markets.

The company said it will move beyond its core role as a mobile carrier into that of a broader digital service provider and it has already started building its digital presence since 2019. Viettel’s business is now focused on six digital categories: infrastructure, solutions, content, finance, cybersecurity, and R&D. 

The military-owned company introduced its new branding this week, replacing its old green-and-orange logo to a dramatic red and trimming its lengthy slogan. The rebranding is a part of a strategy to appeal to younger consumers.  

Viettel is now offering services for businesses, including electronic invoicing, document digitisation and machine learning analysis.

It sells phones, laptops and other digital-ready equipment through a network of more than 100 stores across the country, and through resellers.

One analyst told Nikkei Asia that the move of Viettel is part of a global trend of telcos expanding far beyond phones and internet cables.

Viettel Group CEO, Le Dang Dung, said the rebranding is necessary after 16 years. 

“Viettel’s brand positioning should be in line with the trends of the times and the strategy of the corporation for at least the next 10 years,” he said. “The most important change is, in the digital age, Viettel will not be alone. The path that we determine to go in the fourth stage of development is ‘Pioneering digital society’.”

Viettel is the largest operator in the domestic market with 59.6 million connections and a 36 per cent market share at the end of last year. It operates mobile services in 11 countries, including Cambodia, Myanmar and Peru.