Vietnam has a large percentage of broadband Internet subscribers, with rates among the lowest in the world. According to the Department of Telecommunications, under the Ministry of Information and Communications, as of October 2021, Vietnam had more than 18.8 million fixed broadband Internet subscribers. Around the same time, Vietnam had 71 million mobile broadband subscribers, with 89.81% prepaid and 10.19% postpaid.
As per data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the fixed Internet unit price/per capita income of Vietnam is low, equal to about 41% of the world average. Further, the mobile Internet unit price/per capita income of Vietnam is equal to one-third of the world average. According to statistics from 155 countries on the average mobile Internet access fee for 1GB of data, Vietnam ranked 10th with US$0.57/GB. Like fixed broadband rates, Vietnam is among the countries with the lowest mobile Internet access charges in the world. On average, download/upload speeds in Vietnam reached 78.34/69.41 Mbps, placing it 59th out of 138 countries. This is considered a good rank, compared to the world at 113/62 Mbps. Vietnam’s fixed broadband Internet speed growth in the past 12 months reached 50%, increasing from 42.07 Mbps to 64.67 Mbps. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is ranked higher than the Philippines (67th) and Malaysia (77th) but lower than Thailand (36th) and Singapore (18th).
Last year, 4G subscribers accounted for 89.42% of total subscribers, 3G subscribers with 10.05%, and 5G subscribers 0.54%. The Internet infrastructure in the country is set to receive considerable investment in 2022 to meet users’ growing demands. Additionally, the government plans to focus on upgrading bandwidth and modem devices’ capacity, widening domestic and international bandwidth, and amending Internet standards.
Telecom businesses in the country have stepped up developing broadband infrastructure. Vietnam announced that this year, it plans to focus on 6G, the sixth-generation standard currently under development for wireless communications technologies. As OpenGov Asia reported earlier, the government set up a steering committee on 6G technology in February. It is responsible for putting forward orientations, mechanisms, and policies to bolster 6G research and development in the country.
The committee will monitor the 6G equipment and service standards, production, and commercialisation from international organisations around the world. It will combine research and forecast development trends from domestic and international telecommunications markets. The committee will also devise a roadmap to study, manufacture, and commercialise 6G equipment as well as a roadmap for testing and commercialising 6G services. It will come up with solutions to support Vietnamese enterprises with the technology. Experts believe that 6G networks will transform the country. While the speed of 5G may reach 20 gigabits (Gbps) per second, a 6G network may achieve terabits-per-second speeds. Nations around the world, including the US, South Korea, China, Japan, and Finland have already joined the race for 6G network development.
