Vietnam to trial 5G services on a large scale in 2021

The Ministry of Information and Communications will take the initiative in the commercialization of 5G in Vietnam.

The World Mobile Broadband & ICT 2021 seminar. Photo: Trong Dat

The World Mobile Broadband & ICT 2021 seminar took place in Hanoi on March 25. This is an important forum for telecommunications managers and experts to promote telecommunications services in Vietnam.

The report "Southeast Asia's digital economy 2020" by Google, Temasek and Bain showed that Vietnam's digital economy reached a total value of $14 billion in 2020, $2 billion higher than that of 2019. Of the total number of digital service users, new users in Vietnam accounted for 41%. This makes Vietnam the country with the highest rate of new Internet users in the region.

According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam is one of the three Asian countries with positive growth, with the economy scale reaching more than $343 billion, compared to $337.5 billion of Singapore and $336.3 billion of Malaysia.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam speaks at the seminar. Photo: Trong Dat

The Vietnamese Government has defined telecommunication infrastructure, including mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure, as one of the pillars of the digital economy. In fact, within the past two to three years, the development of broadband infrastructure has paved the way for the development of all other economic sectors.

By the end of February 2021, the total number of fixed broadband subscribers in Vietnam exceeded 17.2 million and the total number of mobile broadband subscribers was nearly 69.5 million, according to statistics of the Telecommunications Department.

Assessing the development of Vietnam's telecommunications market, Mr. Tran Duc Lai - Chairman of the the Radio and Electronics Association of Vietnam - said that this year, local telecom network operators have deployed 5G and achieved very positive results. From 2021, Vietnam will test 5G services on a large scale and even with Make in Vietnam devices.

Vietnam is particularly interested in the application of 5G technology in agriculture, high-tech industry and the 4th industrial revolution. This is why World Mobile Broadband & ICT chose the topic “5G and broadband infrastructure development”.

5G to contribute 7.34% to Vietnam's GDP

Mr. Tran Duc Lai - Chairman of the Radio and Electronics Association of Vietnam. Photo: Trong Dat

Mr. Phan Tam - Deputy Minister of Information and Communications - said that we are entering the digital era, the digital society. In the next 10 years, the world will witness great changes in human society. It is a transition from the real world to the virtual world, the transformation of all socio-economic activities into a digital environment, where data will become an important resource for each country and the powerful development of IoTs (Internet of Things).

Mr. Tam said that telecommunications infrastructure is becoming the fundamental infrastructure for digital economy, digital society, and digital government. The conception of digital infrastructure from the perspective of the Ministry of Information and Communications includes broadband telecommunications infrastructure and IoT, AI, Big Data, network security, digital identity and electronic payment platforms. Mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure will contribute greatly to the development of the country.

Vietnam is working hard to commercialize 5G with Make in Vietnam devices. Photo: Trong Dat

In Vietnam, according to research by the Institute of Information and Communication Strategy, the contribution of 5G to GDP growth is forecast to reach 7.34% by 2025. Therefore, the Socio-Economic Development Strategy for 2021-2030 and the Socio-Economic Development Plan for 2021-2025 repeatedly mentions digital transformation, telecommunications, IT, digital technology, digital government, digital skills.

Science, technology, innovation and digital transformation are one of the strategic breakthroughs of the next 10 years of development to turn Vietnam into a high middle-income country by 2030 and an industrial country with high income in 2045.

In that context, the Ministry of Information and Communications is determined to go along with the world and be proactive in the commercialization of 5G in Vietnam.