IPification has announced a partnership with Viettel Telecom, Vietnam’s largest mobile operator, to deploy network-based mobile authentication for Viettel subscribers.
The technology authenticates a user through mobile network and SIM signals rather than passwords or SMS one-time passcodes. IPification describes a zero-tap approach that verifies identity using unique SIM, network, and device identifiers, with the network confirming the user silently in the background. The company positions the method against SIM-swapping, phishing, and social engineering attacks, which target the SMS codes and passwords it is intended to replace, and says it has processed close to one billion authentication transactions globally.
Under the agreement, the partners are targeting banking, fintech, e-wallets, and other high-risk digital services in Vietnam. The companies have outlined a phased path: Viettel is set to complete a WiFi authentication capability based on the GSMA TS.43 standard by the second quarter of 2026, allowing subscribers to be authenticated using SIM and mobile network infrastructure even when connected over WiFi, before integration is extended to banking and fintech partners. Because the check runs against carrier-held SIM and network identifiers rather than a code sent to the handset, the approach is intended to remove the interception and redirection weaknesses associated with SMS one-time passcodes, while requiring no separate authenticator application from the user.
Stefan Kostic, Chief Executive Officer of IPification, and Le Manh Tan, Deputy General Director of Viettel Telecom, represented the two companies at the signing, which took place at Mobile World Congress in the presence of a GSMA representative for the Asia-Pacific region. Both framed the agreement as advancing international-standard, passwordless authentication for Vietnamese users.
The deal extends a model IPification has deployed with other carriers. The company previously worked with Telin to launch a network-level authentication platform that verifies a user’s phone number, SIM, and device without SMS codes or extra apps.
The partnership lands amid tightening mobile identity rules in Vietnam, where regulators now require facial re-verification when subscribers swap devices and have mandated phone-number verification for social media users, measures that make operator-anchored authentication a more central part of the country’s digital identity infrastructure.
Sources: IPification, VietNamNet
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By Ji-seo Kim
