The quality of Internet service has improved following directives issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). Globally, Vietnam ranks 39th in terms of fixed Internet.
According to an industry report, the country ranks 52nd globally in mobile Internet speed, a fall of nine places as compared to the month before. The broadband download in February was 42.67 Mbps, while the upload speed was 18.27 Mbps. As for fixed broadband Internet, Vietnam jumped six places to rank 39th, despite issues with submarine fibre optic cables.
It was reported that the average download speed of fixed broadband in Vietnam was 91.6 Mbps, while the upload speed was 93.38 Mbps. The system measuring the Internet access speed in Vietnam (i-SPEED) of the Vietnam Internet Centre (VIC) under MIC has also reported similar results, with average fixed download broadband speed up and mobile broadband down.
The average broadband download speed in Vietnam in February was 89,73 Mpps, up 4.6% over January. Among the centrally run cities, Ho Chi Minh City had the highest fixed broadband download speed (96.55Mbps). The average fixed broadband upload speed of the whole country was 88.71 Mbps (up 4.7%).
As per data from VIC, in terms of mobile Internet, the average download speed of the whole country in February was 36.45 Mbps (down 10.7% over January), while the average upload was 16.19 Mbps (down 6.7%).
The figures from both domestic and international sources indicated that there has been a significant improvement in Vietnam’s fixed Internet speed in February, a considerable achievement considering the several incidents surrounding the submarine fibre optic cables since late 2022. As a solution, MIC has directed telecom carriers to promptly apply measures to fix the problems to ensure smooth international Internet connection.
Under the instructions of the Authority of Telecommunications (AOT), mobile network operators have negotiated to buy more mainland optical fibre capacity and share capacity with each other to overcome the crisis.
MIC has also requested telcos to develop more submarine fibre optic cables to better satisfy users’ demands. Vietnam is using five international submarine fibre optic cables. The government expects the total number of cable routes used in Vietnam to double by 2025. Telcos have noted that the increase in the capacity of international connection on the mainland has helped improve the Internet service quality and the complaints about service quality have decreased.
As a result of better and more easily available Internet connectivity, Vietnam’s digital economy has grown rapidly. Data from MIC showed that the ICT economy’s revenue reached an estimated US$ 148 billion in 2022, representing a year-on-year increase of 8.7%. The contribution of the digital economy to the national GDP in 2022 accounted for about 14.26% of the total, with 7.18% contributed by the ICT digital economy.
As OpenGov Asia reported earlier, IT services have contributed the most to the digital economy, accounting for about 30% of the total value, followed by e-commerce (14.3%) and hardware production (12.83%). The digital content field recorded the strongest growth, up nearly 104% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
MIC developed a strategy for digital technology industry development to 2025 with a vision for 2030. Last year, the ministry announced 35 national digital platforms serving digital transformation and the development of digital government, economy, and society, including 21 developed by domestic digital technology enterprises. These have contributed to facilitating state management and public services.
