Vietnamese operator Viettel intends extending its reach to ten to 15 markets by 2015, up from the six it serves currently, according to Vietnam Investment Review.

In an interview, Duong Van Tinh, the company’s deputy general director, identified Myanmar, Kenya, Venezuela, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Argentina, Cuba and Swaziland as being “on our radar”.

While stating that the company would “not be hesitant” in investing in developed markets if the opportunity arises, these “have already been saturated and have not had new frequency resources”.

This means that the effective entry to market is through an acquisition of an existing business, and owners are looking for “very high” prices “because of the companies’ big profits”.

Among the strategies outlined by the executive was Viettel’s practice of offering its services to “80-95 per cent” of a market’s population at launch, rather than initially focusing on major cities, and of employing local workers so that “they will consider their companies their own home”.

Viettel currently has operations in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in Asia, Peru and Haiti in Latin America, and Mozambique in Africa. Late last year, it was awarded a contract to provide services in Cameroon.

According to Wireless Intelligence figures, it had more than 73 million customers across its markets at the end of Q1 2013.