As part of the government’s plan to create incentives for domestically manufactured 5G products, three major Vietnamese enterprises have officially announced their 5G research and production roadmaps.
State-owned Viettel, one of Vietnam’s largest telecommunication companies has approved a budget of VN 500 billion (about US $21.5 million) for developing 5G microcells. It is investing in a VN 200 billion lab (about US $8 million) for 5G technology, according to the Deputy-General Director of Viettel, Nguyen Cuong Hoang.
They also plan to test 5G microcell services around June 2020 and 5G macro-cell services on Viettel’s internal network.
Meanwhile, Vingroup, a Vietnamese conglomerate, is focusing on researching and establishing lab rooms.
Vingroup’s Head of Embedded Software Department of its IT sector, VinSmart, noted that its first 5G phone is expected to be launched from July 2020, and telecommunications devices are to be tested starting August 2020. Currently, VinSmart is also working with Cisco and Intel to develop 5G network devices.
The third developer, the Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology (FPT), said they set up a group of engineers between 2014 and 2018 and aim to provide full package 5G solutions from 2019 through 2023.
Vinsmart representatives expressed their request for the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) to create incentives for frequency licensing to test its 5G devices as the company is not specialised in telecommunications.
Further, Viettel requested that the MIC help it reach out to foreign experts and also promote Viettel’s 5G chipset products to domestic and foreign partners.
Speaking at a recent seminar, experts from Global Foundries, a semiconductor chip manufacturing company from the US said that the government needs to create a demand and a market for 5G chip products designed by Vietnamese companies. They also noted that such companies should work together instead of competing to alleviate the financial burden.
MIC’s Deputy Minister, Pham Tam, spoke highly of efforts to develop 5G technology of the enterprises and shares from experts of Global Foundries while asking the Department of Information Technology to create all the incentives for Vietnamese chipset manufacturers and act as an emissary to connect them with foreign technologies.
The government recently announced that the ITU Digital World 2020, a global platform for accelerating innovations in information and communication technology, will take place in Hanoi.
The annual event, co-organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and MIC, will focus on the theme, “building the digital world together.”
It will be the first time Vietnam hosts the ITU Digital World, formally known as the ITU Telecom World. The new name reflects the current global and regional digital transformation, concentrating on partnership and innovation in the development of digital government, digital economies, and digital societies.
A series of events will be held during the ITU Digital World 2020, including a ministerial forum, a summit and symposiums that aim to discuss policies, solutions, services, and business models in developing the global ICT industry and fostering transformation of digital economy and digital society, and to enhance cooperation between policymakers and entrepreneurs in this area, according to the MIC.
The discussions will focus on three main topics: connection, innovation, and digital transformation; and digital sustainability; and corporate responsibility.
An international exhibition will also be organised, with innovative products, technologies, and applications on display.
