Vietnamese operator Viettel became the first worldwide partner to join Qualcomm Technologies' 6G development venture.

Viettel joined Qualcomm's Early Access Program for the 6G platform to gain early access to the vendor's chipset platform and development tools across open radio access network (RAN)-based 5G equipment development and joint research on 6G technologies for the Vietnamese martket.

The venture will also see Qualcomm connect Viettel with mobile network operators and global partners to expand the international reach of its 5G products across South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The two firms aim to complete the first pre-commercial 6G voice call by early 2029 using Viettel's network infrastructure and equipment.

Viettel appears to be the only named partner on the venture to date. The Early Access Program sits alongside a Qualcomm 6G coalition announced in March, as led by T-Mobile US and featuring an all-star cast that includes Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta.

Qualcomm's other telecom ventures include a seat on the open RAN-centric OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation and The AI-RAN Alliance.

In a keynote at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC), Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon framed 6G as a global “AI data center network" where future telecom infrastructure would 3D sensing of cities, police drone traffic, and a new wave of multidevice AI agents.

According to research from Dell'Oro Group, projected 6G global wireless capital expenditure will reach $500 billion by 2034, with cumulative 6G RAN revenue expected to top $100 billion.