5G services are projected to contribute 7.34% to Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2025, according to research by the National Institute of Information and Communications Strategy. At a recent high-level forum on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that the revolution and innovation form a new driving force for socio-economic development.
He said in order to recover and develop the economy post-pandemic, it is necessary to have an infrastructure development strategy, including digital transformation infrastructure, and telecommunications services that reach low-lying and border areas, and islands. Digital infrastructure is among the government’s top priorities. It has set a target to be among the top 30 nations with the most advanced and robust digital infrastructure by 2025. Vietnam’s next wave of socio-economic development will come from innovation, science, and technology, driven by the digital economy.
At the event, an industry expert explained that the manufacturing, energy/utilities, healthcare, and security sectors have the best opportunities for 5G-induced benefits in Vietnam. Businesses’ digitalisation capability through 5G networks will significantly improve labour productivity. It could potentially redefine the entire digital ecosystem. One of the country’s biggest network providers, the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), stated that 5G technology is helping it gradually develop more applications that are based on or incorporate artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of things (IoT), and robotics, among others, to build smart cities and for healthcare, education, and smart factories.
The Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel) has identified the 5G network as the infrastructure foundation for digital transformation and the fourth industrial revolution. As such, the state-run company is promoting the research and creation of applications on the 5G spectrum. Viettel’s goal is to put Vietnam on par with the world in digital transformation and research and development for the high-tech industry.
Last September, Viettel successfully researched, tested, and established a 5G data transmission speed of more than 4.7Gb per second. This speed is 40 times higher than the 4G speed and more than two times the existing 5G speed, making Viettel one of the fastest 5G telecom networks in Asia. The result confirmed the outstanding capacity of the 5G ultra-short wave (mmWave) technology that Viettel plans to deploy.
In January, OpenGov Asia reported that the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has made 5G services provisions through indigenously-developed devices a core government mission. Due to infrastructure limits, however, the target is to only offer these services to 25% of the national population in 2025. 4G networks cover 99.8% of the nation and 5G technology has been successfully piloted by three major carriers in 16 cities and provinces.
Domestic 5G equipment now ranges from the core, transmission, and access networks. Vietnam has finished installing 5G stations using open radio access network (ORAN) technology with download and upload speeds of 900Mbps and 60Mbps, respectively. This is a major boost for 5G device research and manufacturing in Vietnam, which will serve commercialisation tasks later this year.
