According to Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, the amendment of the Law on Telecommunications aims to supplement regulations for new contents, in line with the trend of telecommunications development, the trend of convergence, and the formation of digital infrastructure - the infrastructure of the digital economy.
On the morning of June 2, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, authorized by the Prime Minister, presented a report on the revised Telecommunications Law project.
This draft law consists of 10 chapters and 74 articles.
According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, the 2009 Telecommunications Law has important implications for the development and integration process of the economy in general and the telecommunications industry in particular, marking a new development step in the telecommunications legislation in our country, especially in the face of globalization.
Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung. (Photo: QH)
After more than 12 years of application, the Telecommunications Law and its guiding documents have created a legal corridor to promote competition and create conditions for businesses to participate in the market.
In addition to the achieved results, the Law on Telecommunications has revealed limitations, inadequacies, and is not suitable for the new and changing context. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively amend to build a legal corridor in accordance with the new requirements and overcome obstacles in the implementation and management of the State.
Currently, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, digital technology, digital transformation has taken place strongly at an unprecedented rate over the past 10 years, having a great impact on the telecommunications sector.
In the trend of digital transformation, data has become the most important resource of the digital economy, a new input for production, so many countries attach great importance to data center infrastructure, cloud computing and make policies and regulations to manage.
Convergence of telecommunications, information technology and, more recently, convergence with digital technology. This convergence blurs the boundary between telecommunications and information technology, posing difficulties in institutional building and completion.
Previously, telecommunications service providers had to have telecommunications network infrastructure. Enterprise management of network infrastructure is the management of telecommunications services. But today, on the Internet it is possible to provide telecommunications services (including basic telecommunications services), even cross-border telecommunications services can be provided.
This poses the problem of managing telecommunications services on the Internet, managing cross-border telecommunication services, ensuring the principle of equal management between telecommunications services and safety and security issues.
Therefore, the amendment of the law aims to fully institutionalize the Party's policy on developing a market economy with State regulation in telecommunications activities, developing telecommunications infrastructure and other infrastructure, creating the foundation for the development of the digital economy and digital society.
The law amendment also aims to overcome institutional problems, policy gaps, and inadequacies in the provisions of the Telecommunications Law 2009 and other legal regulations related to telecommunications activities that limit the development process.
Supplement regulations for new contents, in line with the progress of telecommunications development, the trend of convergence, and the formation of digital infrastructure - the infrastructure of the digital economy.
Timely response to the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment of the National Assembly Le Quang Huy presented the report on verification of the law project. The examining body basically agreed with the need to enact the revised Law on Telecommunications for the reasons as stated in the report.
“The amendment of the law after more than 13 years of implementation aims to promptly meet the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; implementation of international commitments; contributing to the development of a socialist-oriented market economy in the field of telecommunications”, affirmed the representative of the verification agency.
Chairman of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee of the National Assembly Le Quang Huy.
According to the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, the amendment of the law also aims to achieve the goal of building digital infrastructure to meet the requirements of digital economy and digital society development; at the same time, ensure the consistency and synchronization with the provisions of the law, overcome the inadequacies, difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of the Law on Telecommunications over the past time.
Regarding specific issues, Mr. Le Quang Huy said, the majority of opinions agreed with the extension of the scope of regulation of the draft law for services: data centers; Cloud computing and basic telecommunications services on the Internet (OTT telecommunications) to match the development trend of telecommunications in the context of digital transformation.
Regarding the guarantee of information confidentiality, Mr. Le Quang Huy said, there are opinions that the provisions at point b, clause 4, Article 6 of the draft law do not really guarantee the interests of service users. Therefore, it is proposed to more closely regulate the exchange and provision of information related to users of telecommunications services between telecommunications businesses, ensuring the right purposes and binding the responsibilities of enterprises.
The Committee on Science, Technology and Environment also said that data center services and cloud computing services are not yet fully regulated by current laws. These two services are considered value-added telecommunications services, so there is a need for regulatory sanctions.
Mr. Le Quang Huy said that the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment agreed that it was necessary to have State management of the above services to ensure the interests of service users, safety and security.
However, it is recommended to review and clarify the differences in products and services provided between data center services, cloud computing services and telecommunications services.
– The draft law stipulates licensing conditions in the direction of simplifying procedures.
– Completing regulations on using mobile subscriber SIM accounts to pay for telecommunications services and information content services on legal mobile telecommunications networks.
– Add objects of telecommunications infrastructure sharing activities.
– Completing regulations to increase the common use of passive telecommunications technical infrastructure among telecommunications businesses to ensure efficient and cost-effective use.
(Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung)
