The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) last week held a webinar to assess the impacts of a draft circular on the national technical regulations on terminal devices of terrestrial mobile communication.
According to the representative of the MIC’s Information Technology Department, the building of national technical regulations on terminal devices of terrestrial mobile communication is one of the breakthrough solutions to spur domestic business and manufacturing activities. The draft circular includes the requirement that terminal devices of terrestrial mobile communication must be integrated with 4G.
The building of the draft draws on lessons from a range of other countries including Singapore, where terminal device manufacturers and suppliers must ensure their support of IMT-2000 technology, which are 3G and LTE-Advanced (4G).
Addressing the event, Phan Tam, the Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, explained that technology changes constantly, especially mobile communication. Globally, some countries have deployed 5G, and Vietnam is among the pioneers. Vietnam, agencies, and businesses related to terminal device manufacturing and trading and mobile operations are not exempt from this trend. The government’s goals for national digital transformation cannot be realised on 2G, he noted.
The deputy minister asked agencies and businesses to discuss measures and solutions to accelerate the transformation in a way that minimises impacts on businesses and locals. Currently, the draft circular is available for comments on the MIC portal.
The trend of online applications has been blossoming, especially in the COVID-19 landscape. Additionally, the government’s Decision No.749/QD-TTg dated 3 June on the approval of the national digital transformation program by 2025 with a vision to 2030 creates the foundation for digital transformation in digital infrastructure development:
- Creating a 5G network infrastructure
- Upgrading 4G
- Commercialising of 5G
- Building regulations and a roadmap for the integration of 4G and 5G into smartphones and IoT devices
At present, Vietnam has six mobile telecommunications service providers with over 129 million subscribers. 2G, 3G, and 4G are available, and 5G will be commercialised soon.
Addressing the webinar, some mobile telecommunications service providers recommended that it is time to consider turning off 2G, maybe by 2025. 4G will bring about more values but needs time to develop services. However, the extension of 2G will facilitate businesses and associations of transportation businesses because over one million automobiles are equipped with 2G-based cruise control devices, in addition to many fishing boats.
MIC recently announced that the Vietnam 2020 White Book on ICT is scheduled to be issued by 20 December.
In the White Book, the first section will provide an overview of the ICT development in Vietnam and the world during the year, the message by the MIC Minister, along with the highlights and ranking of the country’s ICT sector in the world.
It will also include articles on the importance of the national digital transformation program to national socio-economic development, as well as orientations for IT and telecommunication development.
The second section will feature data about the top 20 localities in IT revenue, the number of their IT businesses and workers, and the top 20 IT enterprises in terms of revenue, workforce, and contribution to the state budget. The last section will be reserved for introducing ICT agencies and organisations.
