Viettel's Unitel company, based in Laos, has won the 2012 World Communication Award for Best Operator in a Developing Market.

A day later, in South Africa , the Vietnamese telecom giant's Movitel, based in Mozambique, won the 2012 African Communication Award in the Rural Telecom category.

At the WCA, one of the most prestigious international communication awards with 17 different categories, Unitel caused a big surprise because it was the first representative from Laos to compete.

Three years after it began operation, Unitel, starting in the 4th position, now leads the market with a 44 percent market share.

Unitel's wide network has boosted the growth of the Lao telecommunications industry by increasing telecom density four-fold.

For every one million population, the fibre optic network has increased from 1,300km to 6,600km, or 6.6 times the global average, and base transceiver stations from 250 to 950, five times the global average.

Unitel has already established a wide distribution system with 15,000 agents and local commune sales staff that ensures services are brought to every resident. The system has created stable jobs and incomes for over 20,000 local workers.

In Africa , Movitel has been highly appreciated by the regional telecommunications community and was nominated for the final round of the 2012 African Communication Awards in the Rural Telecom category despite the fact that it had only launched its services in May.

The outstanding aspects of Movitel's solutions are derived from its philosophy that telecom services are an indispensable product for most people, company officials said.

Movitel has created a nationwide network of infrastructure and business, in the process propelling Mozambique into the top three nations in Sub-Sahara in terms of telecom infrastructure.

Telecom infrastructure is a key requirement for a country to usher in e-governance, improve healthcare and education and training, and foster economic development.-VNA