Phone

Police 113, Fire Brigade 114, Hospital 115, Time 117, General Information 1080

The 1080 number is the equivalent of an interactive yellow page service, particularly useful for information on telephone numbers, addresses, government offices, businesses, etc. As for the 1088 number, this is a rather unusual telephone service. An army of operators, some of whom speak English, are trained to answer just about any question from the public. From family planning questions to marital problems, meteorology to tourist information, historical or scientific queries, and the 1088 crew are able to deal with all reasonable questions. During World Cup fever, they were specially prepared for the event, answering important or trivial questions from previous game scores to the underwear color of the most famous players

Telephone

Landline numbers in Hanoi and HCMC have a sequence of eight numbers, others have seven.

• Vietnam international code: +84
• Hanoi area code : (04)
• Ho Chi Minh area code : (08)

VoIP calls

Telephone bills are 30% to 40% cheaper if dialed with 171 or 178 services.

• Domestic call : 171 (178) + 0 + Area code + Number.
• International call : 171 (178) + 00 + Country code + Area code + Number.

Since hotels and guesthouses often charge higher for telephone calls, try to find a post office or any reliable public service.

Mobile phones

There are many mobile networks with different codes:

• Vinaphone: 91, 94, 121, 123, 125 (GSM 900)
• Mobifone: 90, 93, 122, 124, 126 (GSM 900/1800)
• Viettel: 98, 97, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169 (GSM 900)
• SFone: 95 (CDMA)
• Vietnamobile: 92 (CDMA)
• EVN Telecom: 96 (CDMA)
• Beeline: 199 (GSM 900)

You can buy a SIM card in every shop selling mobile phones, or showing their network's brands. The standard price is no higher than 75,000 dong, but foreigners are often charged 100,000 dong.

Prepaid account charges vary from 1,700-2,500 dong per minute. Recharge cards are available in denominations of 50,000, 100,000, 200,000 and 500,000 dong.

Roaming onto Vietnam's GSM networks are possible with foreign mobile phones, subject to agreements between operators.