On March 8, the National Auction Partnership No 5 organized an auction for the right to use radio frequencies for the B1 band block (2,500-2,600 MHz). 

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung emphasized that the event has important significance for the information and communications sector as it opens a new era for 5G and serves as the foundation for national digital transformation.

The Prime Minister on January 11, 2024 approved the national information and communications infrastructure development plan in 2021-2030 with the vision towards 2050. 

Vietnam strives for a minimum average download speed of 100 Mbps by 2025 for 5G network and it is expected that 5G network will cover 99 percent of population by 2030.

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has decided that 2024 is the year for digital infrastructure populalization. Vietnam's digital infrastructure must have super large capacity, super wide bandwidth, and be universal, sustainable, green, smart, open and safe.

Three frequency bands for 5G were put into auction, which meant that three mobile network operators have obtained licenses to provide 5G services.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung told VietNamNet that the ministry’s frequency licensing is ‘open’, which means that all businesses satisfying requirements could attend the auction, not just mobile network operators providing services. 

Even before the auction was organized, analysts believed there would not be ‘new players’ in the ‘5G playing field’, but only the existing telecom carriers. If a business which never provided mobile services in the past wanted to attend the 5G auction, it had to invest at least $1 billion in the ‘new game’. 

Vietnam’s mobile market is getting saturated in terms of number of subscribers. Also, traditional telecommunication services such as voice calls and SMS, are no longer the highest profit makers.

Analysts estimate that the profit growth rate of mobile service providers was at two-digit levels a decade ago, but now is at a one-digit level. They believe that no business will want to jump into the 5G playing field.

There are five mobile networks currently providing services on their own infrastructure: Viettel, VNPT, MobiFone, Vietnamobile and Gtel Mobile. However, only three – Viettel, VNPT and MobiFone – dominate the market. So, the three have the greatest advantages to run a race for 5G licenses.

However, Vietnamobile lacks the frequency band to develop services and wants both 4G and 5G frequencies. This is a ‘life and death’ race for small network operators like Vietnamobile.

In the latest news, Viettel has announced that it has obtained the right to use the 5G radio frequency on the 2500-2600 MHz band block for 15 years at the auction.

5G is new driving force 

According to Hung, 2024 will be the year for MIC to commercialize 5G nationwide. Stressing that 5G is the new space for telecom carriers, Hung told the story about China Mobile which spent $4 billion within one year, or 3-4 percent of revenue, to develop apps. The firm developed industrial 5G which helped its annual turnover increase by more than 10 percent.

Hung said a 10 percent growth rate is an impossible mission without 5G.

A representative of Ericsson Vietnam said 5G will be create connections not just between people and people, but also between people and machines, and between machines and machines which generate automation and  transform industries. It is expected that 5G will bring revenue of $1.5 billion by 2030 to Vietnamese exploiters.

Nguyen Van Son from Viettel Telecom said people’s demand for 5G is high, but the number of 5G supporting devices is still low, just 17-20 percent. Viettel will prioritize 5G in areas with high demand and with a high proportion of 5G supporting devices. Also, it will pay attention to Industrial Zones, Export Provessing Zones, and innovation centers.

Thai Khang