July 10 - Russia's second largest mobile phone operator Vimpelcom is investing almost US$270 million in a joint venture with Vietnam's Global telecommunications Corporation.

Vimpelcom announced Tuesday it had secured a 40 percent stake in the GTEL-Mobile venture and will start providing services in Vietnam next summer.

“Vietnam will be a key market for us. We will be looking for further development possibilities based on the Vietnamese operations,” Vimpelcom Chief Executive Alexander Izosimov was reported as saying.

“In case our Vietnamese partners are interested, it is possible that we will do it together,” he added.

Vietnam's mobile industry is a considered a large untapped maret, only 30 percent of the population currently uses mobile services.