After telecoms carriers conducted commercial 5G trials in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, many provinces have sent recommendations to the Ministry of Information and Communications to allow the carriers to deploy 5G in their urban areas, industrial zones and key areas.

A worker of Viettel checks 5G equipment. (Photo courtesy of Viettel)

In a petition sent to the Ministry of Information and Communications, the departments of information and communications of Phu Tho and Binh Phuoc provinces proposed the ministry direct telecommunications businesses to deploy 5G in the provinces.

Lai Chau province’s Department of Information and Communications proposed investing in infrastructure development to improve the quality of 3G and 4G and develop 5G in the province.

Responding to the requests, the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA) under the Ministry of Information and Communications said that based on testing results and proposals of businesses, the ministry would study and license mobile businesses to deploy 5G, prioritising industrial parks, high-tech parks, and information technology to focus on implementing innovative digital technologies.

The ministry suggested the departments work with mobile businesses in their areas and VNTA survey the practical situation to determine priority areas for infrastructure investment.

The VNTA also said that the Ministry of Information and Communications had determined the implementation of 5G in the country would give priority to utilising the entire infrastructure of 4G, focusing on deployment in industrial parks, high-tech parks, and information technology parks to deploy innovative digital technologies, while at the same time encouraging telecommunication businesses to share infrastructure.

The Ministry of Information and Communications granted licences to major carriers including Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone to test commercial 5G services from November last year.

Telecom enterprises plan to initially deploy 5G in big cities such as Hanoi, HCM City and then Bac Ninh.

This pilot implementation is concentrated on populous areas and in those with a high proportion of people with 5G terminal equipment in the country.

The Ministry of Information and Communications said due to the difficulty of geography, sparse population, and low demand, some remote areas and border areas are not covered with 3G and 4G.

Therefore, it has directed telecommunications businesses, especially Viettel and VNPT, to focus on deploying telecommunications infrastructure in important areas such as borders and islands to contribute to ensuring social security and defence.