All three major carriers, including VinaPhone, MobiFone, and Viettel, have started their 5G journey by announcing the trial of the service in big cities like Hanoi, HCM City at the end of 2020. (Photo courtesy of Viettel) The Dau tu (Investment) Newspaper organised a talk titled “Getting 5G Ready forVietnam’s Digital Transformation” on April 4.
All three major carriers, including VinaPhone, MobiFone, and Viettel, havestarted their 5G journey by announcing the trial of the service in big citieslike Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City at the end of 2020 and then consecutively expandedto other cities.
The 5G network was commercially tested by three operators, Viettel, VNPT andMobiFone, in 16 provinces and cities by the end of last year.
Nguyen Hoa Cuong, vice president of the Central Institute of EconomicManagement (CIEM), said that about 70 countries around the world had commercialised5G.
Besides being a technological innovation on its own, 5G was the enabler formany other technologies, he added.
Vietnam is aspiring to develop a digital government, digital economy anddigital society, and 5G is expected to play a fundamental role by enhancingbroadband connection, improving rural coverage, creating conditions to narrowthe digital divide, developing Industry 4.0 and increasing the contribution ofthe digital media sector to Vietnam's GDP.
An important component of Vietnam's socio-economic development strategy is thedevelopment of the digital economy, which is expected to contribute 7 percentof GDP by 2025 and 7.5 percent by 2030.
The Ministry of Information and Communications has set a goal to officiallylicense 5G commercialisation this year and soon cover high-tech industrialparks.
The information and communication industry is determined to bring Vietnam alongas a leading country in 5G.
The Ministry of Information and Communications is currently in the final preparationsteps to officially license 5G network operators this year.
However, for the successful commercialisation of 5G, problems still need to besolved.
To commercialise 5G faster, Vietnam needs sufficient bandwidth, ripe 5Gtechnology, diversified 5G services, and numerous cheap terminal equipment.
Investment in 5G infrastructure is also a matter of concern. In the context ofrising investment costs and declining telecommunications revenue, 5G investmentis not simple.
According to experts, tightening spending and investing in the common use ofinfrastructure and networks are key solutions for network operators toimplement in Vietnam successfully.
This is just one of many solutions to the problem. Reducing investment costsalso lies in choosing technology, using foreign equipment orself-manufacturing, and optimising markets and human resources costs.
These will be issues that network operators need to calculate more carefully inthe near future./.
VNA
