After just over a year of commercialization, 5G networks have now covered approximately 59% of Vietnam’s population. This progress comes as Internet access continues to evolve into what many describe as a “second living space” for Vietnamese citizens.

Speaking at Internet Day 2025 in Hanoi on December 17, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long cited data showing that Vietnam’s Internet infrastructure has significantly improved and is gradually catching up with more developed countries, following three decades of advancement.

According to recent reports, Vietnam ranks 10th globally in fixed broadband speed and 15th in mobile broadband speed.

5G services were officially commercialized in Vietnam in October 2024. Since then, the network has reached nearly 60% of the population, laying a vital foundation for the development of a digital economy, e-government, and digital society, the Deputy Minister noted.

“We have achieved widespread infrastructure coverage, with increasingly modern systems. Public participation in the digital environment is deepening, and Internet quality has markedly improved,” said Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long.

Adding to the overview of the domestic Internet landscape, Vu Hoang Lien, Chairman of the Vietnam Internet Association (VIA), stated that since Vietnam officially connected to the Internet on November 19, 1997, the country has gained nearly 80 million users.

On average, Vietnamese people now spend around seven hours online each day for learning, work, and social interaction. The Internet has evolved beyond a mere tool - it has become a second living space for many.

In Southeast Asia, Filip Graovac, Deputy Representative of The Asia Foundation (TAF) in Vietnam, noted that the region is home to 460 million Internet users. Among them, three out of every five shop online, and digital payments now account for over 60% of all transactions.

Meanwhile, 80% of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) see digital platforms as essential to their operations, with one in five relying on them entirely to reach customers.

Vietnam pushes for a safer, more trustworthy Internet

Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long emphasized that Vietnam’s Internet is evolving in line with real-world development trends.

This includes shifting from a model based mainly on self-regulation among digital players to one governed by clearer institutional and legal frameworks. It also involves transitioning from a passive information-sharing space to one that shapes behavior and societal decisions, and from decentralized data exploitation to treating data as a crucial development resource that must be responsibly governed and utilized.

Framing the Internet as an inseparable part of modern economic and social life, the Deputy Minister stressed that sustainable development requires an Internet built on trust.

“This is the trust between individuals in the digital space, and the trust across the entire digital ecosystem - where platforms, data, and communities operate together to generate value,” he said.

“Internet must be safer” was the official theme of this year’s Internet Day. Vu Hoang Lien of VIA emphasized that ensuring safety in the digital world requires collective efforts from society to build a trustworthy digital environment.

He warned that many people have fallen victim to online scams, often because malicious actors exploit the very foundation of trust - leading to skepticism and diminished confidence in the Internet itself.

The line between what’s real and fake has grown increasingly blurry with the rise of technologies like artificial intelligence and deepfake.

When trust in digital systems erodes, users hesitate to click, and businesses become reluctant to pursue digital transformation - threatening the country's goal of achieving double-digit growth by 2030.

Filip Graovac echoed this concern, stating that digital trust is no longer optional - it is a prerequisite for businesses to access markets and build resilience.

Creating a safer Internet is not the responsibility of any one individual or organization, he noted. He recommended that the government bolster the legal and policy frameworks to support MSMEs in building digital trust. This includes strengthening public-private partnerships to develop innovative solutions, training programs tailored for SMEs, and fostering continuous learning to counter emerging digital threats. Digital trust, he concluded, should become a core value in business culture.

From the cybersecurity sector, Nguyen Huu Cuong, a product manager in personal data security at VNPT Cyber Immunity, shared insights into raising internal awareness to better protect customers.

Key measures include onboarding cybersecurity training for new staff, quarterly refresher courses, and internal phishing simulations.

Citing two cases where scam victims were saved by timely community intervention, he urged banks, social media platforms, and tech companies to develop automated systems that can flag suspicious behavior more effectively than manual detection.

Du Lam