In this Resolution, the Prime Minister requested The Ministry of Information and Communications to issue instructions to promote digital infrastructure and manufacturing of telecom equipmenttowards a strategic goal:each citizen owns a smartphone, andeach household hasone high speed fiber optic cable.
UNIVERSALIZE SMARTPHONES, AIMING TO TURN OFF 2G RADIO
TheMinistryofInformationandCommunicationshasproposedtothePrimeMinisteraplantodiscontinuetheoldsecondgeneration(2G)mobiletechnologyby2022.Atthatpointoftime,the"brick"cellphonesshall benolongerusable.Existing2Gphoneusersthenhavenootherchoicebuttoswitchtosmartphonedevices.Accordingtostatistics,thenumberof2G-onlysupporteddevicesinVietnamarenotsomany,therefore,itisfeasibletoacceleratethedigitaltransformationprocessbydiscontinuingbrickfeaturephones.
The nationwide adoption of smartphones and the Internet to each citizen and each household shall represent an opportunity to promote digital transformation, digital economy and digital government. Meanwhile, the acceleration of switching from 2G terminal devices to 4G smartphones goes with a vision to discontinue 2G technology quickly to deploy and harness potentials of the next generation mobile broadband.
Smartphones and mobile applications have recently provided proofs of effectiveness in supporting citizens in their daily lives and work during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
To make smartphone as a universal commodity product in Vietnam, since the beginning of 2020, the Ministry of Information and Communications has implemented a number of solutions to promote 4G smartphones through multi-stakeholders coordination between telecom carriers, devices manufacturers and application providers to offer cheap smartphone programs that is affordable and accessible by citizens. This program has obtained an initial but encouraging result with more than 10,000 low-cost smartphones purchased (by June 2020). In its later phase, the program is expected to reach 50,000 devices purchased by the end of 2020.
According to the Department of Information Technology (Ministry of Information and Communications), in order to accelerate the adoption of smartphones nationwide, the Ministry of Information and Communications proposed two main solutions: promoting domestic production with a Low-cost Smartphone Program; and restricting importation of 2G-only phones by publishing technical regulations on mobile devices that must support 4G. Viettel Group - one of the largest mobile operators in Vietnam is also promoting ubiquity of 4G. Viettel is cooperating with other local suppliers to distribute and sell 4G smartphones at under VND 1.5 million/device and 4G-supported smart feature phone at around VND 400,000/
TO STEP BY STEP POPULARIZE BROADBAND INTERNET
2016 marked a milestone of strong development of fiber optic cable in Viet Nam. The story began in 2016 when major broadband providers such as Viettel, VNPT, FPT... upgraded and invested huge capital resources in fiber optic systems. With immensity of advantages such as high speed, stable transmission line and fast connection, etc… over the old technologies, fiber optic-based Internet is becoming an indispensable component of modern households.
In the "National Digital Transformation Program towards 2025 and vision to 2030" approved by the Prime Minister, digital infrastructure plays key role in national digital transformation with the goal of "Universalizing fiber optic broadband Internet to the entire population". The Ministry of Information and Communications also set a target "each household has an optical cable Internet line".
The ICT industry is entering the second wave of innovation that transforms traditional telecom infrastructure to digital infrastructure of the digital economy and digital platform of the digital economy.
"The second wave of innovation brings transformational effects at the largest scale ever that is supposed to change the nature of Vietnam's telecom industry radically, and open up a new big development space for the industry, much bigger than communication space. The significance of the telecom industry in the country's economic development is therefore much more immense. The telecom industry undertakes a new mission: to be the digital infrastructure, be the platform that underpins a strong and prosperous Vietnamese economy", shared by Minister Nguyen Manh Hung.
Thus, in the fourth industrial revolution and digital transformation, digital infrastructure is identified as a critical success factor. That digital infrastructure is underpinned by both 5G - 6G technology and broadband fiber optic-based device Internet./.
