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Digital infrastructure opens up new development opportunities for technology and telecommunications businesses.

Vietnam is the first country to incorporate the concept of digital infrastructure into its law.

Sharing his views on digital transformation, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized that digital transformation requires digital infrastructure. Digital infrastructure is strategic infrastructure, just like transportation and electricity. Infrastructure must always be prioritized, invested in first, have a long-term vision, and be scalable for decades.

According to the analysis by the Minister of Information and Communications, Vietnam's digital infrastructure includes: telecommunications infrastructure, Internet infrastructure, data infrastructure, and infrastructure for digitizing the real world (for example, creating a digital replica of Ho Chi Minh City's drainage system to later simulate and find solutions to prevent flooding in the city).

Vietnam's digital infrastructure must ensure ultra-broadband, universal accessibility, sustainability, intelligence, openness, greenness, and security. Telecommunications infrastructure is invested in and operated by businesses. Digital infrastructure, with its many components, must be proactive and lead the way, thus requiring investment from the State.

According to Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, Vietnam is one of the first countries to incorporate the concept of digital infrastructure into law, as reflected in the Telecommunications Law of 2023, which came into effect on July 1, 2024.

The concept of digital infrastructure includes: telecommunications infrastructure, IoT infrastructure, data infrastructure, computing infrastructure, and especially computing for AI - infrastructure that provides technology such as services and digital platforms with infrastructure characteristics.

Strategic infrastructure for the nation

Digital infrastructure is considered the "backbone" of nations in the technological era, playing a crucial role in economic development as well as improving the quality of life for citizens.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phuc, Director of the Telecommunications Department, stated that digital infrastructure has become a strategic infrastructure for socio-economic development. Digital infrastructure creates a solid foundation for economic growth and social progress, opening up new opportunities and development spaces for technology and telecommunications businesses.

This transformation is strongly driven by advanced digital technologies such as data centers, cloud computing, 5G, and AI. This not only contributes to innovation in Vietnam and solves Vietnamese problems, but also helps Vietnam achieve breakthrough development in the digital age.

Recognizing this, the Ministry of Information and Communications has issued the Digital Infrastructure Development Framework, establishing a clear framework for businesses to identify new development areas.

The digital infrastructure development framework comprises four main components: telecommunications and Internet infrastructure, data infrastructure, digital physical infrastructure, and digital utility and technology infrastructure.

The Director of the Telecommunications Department stated that high-speed internet plays a crucial role in the connected world. The Ministry of Information and Communications encourages investment in expanding fiber optic networks and ensuring internet access for all Vietnamese households. 2024 marks a significant milestone in the deployment of 5G.

“Viettel, VNPT, and MobiFone have quickly deployed commercialization and officially provided 5G services. Some businesses have planned to increase their 5G base stations to 50% of their 4G base stations by 2025,” the Director of the Telecommunications Department shared.

Meanwhile, according to Mr. Vu Hoang Lien, Chairman of the Vietnam Internet Association, in 2008, Vietnam reached 20 million Internet users, accounting for approximately 24% of the population. By 2014, more than 40% of Vietnam's population used the Internet.

However, the number of Internet users in Vietnam is projected to continuously increase during the period 2024-2029. It is estimated that Vietnam will have more than 100 million Internet users by 2029.

This is proof of Vietnam's strong broadband infrastructure development.

Up to this point, companies like Viettel, VNPT, and MobiFone have invested heavily in digital infrastructure, such as building broadband fiber optic networks and data centers, and rapidly developing 5G networks after winning frequency tenders.

Sharing Viettel's vision, Mr. Tao Duc Thang, Chairman of Viettel Group, said that from the time when Viettel had nothing, it had nurtured the aspiration that "every Vietnamese citizen should have a mobile phone."

That aspiration motivated Viettel to build a nationwide telecommunications infrastructure to popularize mobile services, transforming mobile phones from a luxury service into an essential one.

Subsequently, Viettel continued its aspiration of providing every household with a broadband fiber optic internet connection and every person with a smartphone. Along with other telecommunications companies, Viettel brought fiber optic internet to 90% of Vietnamese households.

Smartphones are not just ordinary communication tools; they are also a means of learning, working, entertaining, and earning a living for Vietnamese people. These goals are aligned with Viettel's aspiration for infrastructure self-reliance.

On October 15, 2024, Viettel launched Vietnam's first and largest 5G network with over 6,500 base stations and outdoor coverage exceeding 90% of the capitals of all 63 provinces and cities, industrial zones, schools, airports, and seaports.

In April 2024, Viettel inaugurated its 14th data center, which is currently one of the largest data centers in Vietnam.

“Viettel is ready to work with Vietnamese businesses to revolutionize cloud computing services, realizing the aspiration that every citizen, every household, every organization and business will have a secure, flexible and efficient place to compute and store data in the cloud,” Mr. Tao Duc Thang shared.