The information and communications infrastructure development planning in 2021-2030 approved by the Prime Minister in January 2024 focuses on digital infrastructure development. The telecommunications infrastructure is expected to transform digital infrastructure. 

The orientation is described in the plan to develop Vietnam telecommunications infrastructure in 2024-2025, recently released by MIC.

According to the MIC’s Authority of Telecommunications (AOT), telecommunications infrastructure must be prioritized. It must be one step ahead to stimulate national digital transformation, digital economy and digital society development. Businesses need to cooperate to develop telecommunications infrastructure based on the principle of common use and sharing.

The telecommunications infrastructure needs to be programmed and implemented at the same time as transport infrastructure, electricity, lighting, underground work infrastructure, and other technical infrastructure.

According to AOT, 5.4 million households out of 27 million households nationwide still cannot access fiber services. 

Meanwhile, 2,052 hamlets have electricity from the national grid, but still cannot access broadband fiber optic cable internet services st hamlets’ culture houses. In addition, 230 hamlets have electricity from the national grid, but still are not covered by a mobile broadband. 

The newly released plan stipulates that an additional 2.7 million households will access fiber services in each year (2024 and 2025), raising the number of Vietnam’s households capable of accessing fiber services to 90 percent and 100 percent, respectively.

The other goals set for 2024 include having 684 more hamlets with electricity from national grid with access to fiber services reaching hamlets’ culture houses; having 80 more hamlets with electricity from national grid to be covered by mobile broadband wave; negotiating with partners to have one or two more international submarine telecommunications cable routes.

The goals for 2025 are higher, with 1,368 more hamlets having fiber services reaching hamlets’ culture houses and 100 percent of culture houses having broadband internet.

Another goal for 2025 is to have 150 hamlets covered with 4G broadband.

Vietnam expects to have at least 3 multi-purpose data center clusters at the national level, three clusters at regional level and one to two clusters at local level to serve national and international finance centers, large-scale data centers, and data centers that satisfy the requirements on infrastructure for AI calculation.

Van Anh