In 2022 and the first months of 2023, all five submarine fiber optic cables that Vietnamese telcos use, including AAG, AAE-1, APG, IA and SMW3, faced incidents. The rare situation affected Vietnam’s international internet connections and business operations of technology firms.

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MI) has worked with network operators to deal with the incidents. The ministry set up a task force in charge of troubleshooting and creating a national fiber optic cable development center that will work with telecom carriers.

As instructed by MIC, telcos have launched more land fiber optic cables to ensure fixed and mobile broadband telecommunication services.

After technical solutions were applied on February 12, telcos have mostly restored telecommunication and international internet connections. The quality of the service has gradually improved.

AAG is expected to be fully fixed on April 15,  APG from March 22 to April 9, and IA from April 5 to April 15. Meanwhile, AAE-1 will be repaired in July.

This means that as of mid-April, the troubles on the three routes AAG, APG and IA will end and they will  become operational as usual. 

However, telecom carriers said that as of April 13 afternoon, all five cables had not been fixed.

Asked about the tardiness, Vu The Binh, deputy chair and secretary general of the Vietnam Internet Association (VIA), said while waiting for international submarine fiber optic cables to be fixed, telcos will have to spend more money on solutions to ensure internet connections.

The telcos’ standby capacity is not as good as when the international fiber optic cables operate normally.

“We think that service quality is generally okay now, though there is still latency at times or during peak hours,” he said.

At an earlier conference, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said the incidents with the five fiber optic cables raise concerns about how to develop digital infrastructure sustainably.

“2023 is the year of quality and sustainable development of digital infrastructure. The infrastructure of the digital economy and the economy in general must not be unstable. State agencies, both central and local, and telecom carriers must take responsibility for the quality and sustainability of the national digital infrastructure,” Hung said.

Van Anh