Telecom service providers sent over 15 billion text messages regarding COVID-19 control and prevention during the first half of 2020 and received donations via text for victims of the pandemic totalling VND152 billion (US$6.58 million).

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung speaks at the event. 

The information was released at a conference held by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) on July 6 to review its work in the first half and set out tasks for the remainder of the year.

During the period, the conference heard, the sector put into use 20 COVID-19 control and prevention applications and 12 platforms serving social distancing. Despite a surge in online activities, the number of cyberattacks fell by 26% compared to the second half of 2019 and by 27.1% year-on-year.

There were 600,000 COVID-19-related articles published in newspapers to provide readers with official news.

Notably, in the social distancing period in April, postal companies ensured the smooth flow of goods, with more than 377 million parcels delivered, an annual increase of over 40%.

MIC also announced it has completed the provision of all online administrative procedures at Level 4, meaning service payments can be done online and transaction results are available either online or by post, upon request. The ministry and the health ministry are the only two governmental bodies to have done so to date.

It said that between now and the end of the year it will give instructions to help all localities nationwide build telecom infrastructure development plans to increase the rate of passive telecom infrastructure sharing to 17-20%. It will also work with telecom businesses and smartphone producers to ensure each citizen has a smartphone.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam said the ministry will begin piloting Made-in-Vietnam 5G devices in July and a 5G network using such devices in October.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, meanwhile, touched on the priorities the ministry needs to carry out in the time to come, including helping all localities implement the local government service platform and ensuring that the IT systems of all public agencies have four-layer security.