Vietnam should begin planning passive telecom infrastructure for future 6G and 7G networks, Lt. Gen. Tao Duc Thang said as the National Assembly discussed amendments to four laws governing the country’s digital and technology landscape.
On the morning of August 13, the National Assembly discussed a draft law amending and supplementing provisions of the Law on Radio Frequencies, the Law on Telecommunications, the Law on Electronic Transactions and the Law on Technology Transfer.
Drawing on his experience in telecommunications and digital transformation, National Assembly deputy Tao Duc Thang, Chairman and CEO of Viettel Group, said amendments to the Law on Radio Frequencies in 2022 had provided an important legal foundation for auctioning and allocating spectrum for the rollout of 4G and 5G mobile infrastructure.
“Viewed from three perspectives, the State gains revenue, businesses have better conditions to invest and save costs, while people benefit from better services,” he said.
For businesses, having spectrum allocated at the right time not only helps accelerate investment and sustain growth, but also optimizes the cost of network deployment and operation. According to Thang, companies could save tens of trillions of dong in investment costs.
National Assembly deputy Tao Duc Thang. Photo: National Assembly
For consumers, the benefits can be seen in faster services and improved infrastructure technology.
Thang said the 2023 Law on Telecommunications had expanded its scope beyond traditional telecommunications services to cover data centers, cloud computing and digital infrastructure, creating a legal foundation for the development of Vietnam’s digital economy and digital society.
He noted that telecom investment today is no longer simply about building base stations or laying fiber-optic cables, but is increasingly intertwined with data, digital platforms and service ecosystems.
As an example, Thang said Mobile Money now has nearly 13 million active subscribers, helping promote digital payments and expand access to financial services, particularly in remote and disadvantaged areas.
Another significant development, he said, is that infrastructure-sharing mechanisms under the law have provided a legal basis for telecom operators to make greater use of shared infrastructure. This has reduced duplicate investment, optimized costs and gradually shifted the industry from pure competition toward greater cooperation.
During natural disasters, telecom operators have also coordinated to maintain communications by allowing subscribers affected by service disruptions on one network to connect to another operator’s network. More than 10 million subscribers were able to roam between networks during recent storms and floods, he said.
The reduction of investment and business conditions, combined with greater decentralization and a shift from pre-approval to post-inspection, has also significantly reduced compliance time and costs for businesses.
Thang said this was the right approach and should continue under the proposed legislation.
He welcomed the draft law’s focus on three main areas: cutting and simplifying administrative procedures and business conditions; strengthening decentralization and delegation of authority; and addressing regulations that have created difficulties in practice, including mechanisms for sharing telecommunications infrastructure serving national defense and security.
Looking ahead, Thang urged policymakers to incorporate the needs of future 6G and 7G networks into telecommunications infrastructure planning.
He noted that Vietnam currently has a relatively high number of people served by each mobile base station compared with neighboring countries. As future networks move to higher-frequency spectrum, more base stations will be required, making early infrastructure planning increasingly important.
‘One-stop service does not mean putting many doors in one room’
National Assembly deputy Be Trung Anh.
National Assembly deputy Be Trung Anh, a full-time member of the National Assembly’s Committee for Deputy Affairs, said amending the four laws on radio frequencies, telecommunications, electronic transactions and technology transfer at the same time offered an opportunity to reshape Vietnam’s legal framework around technological convergence rather than simply revising individual sector-specific laws.
“Management should follow a unified digital infrastructure architecture rather than treating each sector separately. When technologies converge, laws must be able to work together. The division of authority among state agencies should not become an administrative cost borne by businesses,” he said.
According to Trung Anh, the spirit of Resolution 57 and Resolution 66 requires institutions and regulations to stay one step ahead, removing barriers, unlocking resources and becoming a source of competitive advantage.
He called for sufficiently flexible regulations so that future technologies such as 6G, satellite networks, direct-to-device satellite connectivity and private industrial networks can be tested without having to wait for further legislative amendments.
He also proposed mechanisms for spectrum sharing and trials of integrated satellite networks, a single-review principle for related licenses, and broader sharing of telecommunications infrastructure with transport, electricity, lighting and other public infrastructure.
“5G, 6G, satellites, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital platforms are increasingly blurring the boundaries between telecommunications, spectrum, data and electronic transactions,” he said.
He argued that enabling legislation should establish mechanisms today that prevent a new service introduced tomorrow from immediately falling into four or five separate regulatory frameworks.
“A one-stop mechanism does not mean putting many doors in the same room. A genuine one-stop service means people and businesses need to knock only once. Behind that door, the State connects the data, assigns responsibilities and coordinates the work,” he said.
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