Amending the Telecommunications Law, creating a foundation for digital transformation

On June 10, the National Assembly discussed in groups the draft Law on Telecommunications (amended). National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized that in the world , there are two transformations that no one can stand outside of: energy transformation and digital transformation.

In particular, digital transformation is related to national digital sovereignty , safety, non-traditional security, with many opportunities but also great challenges. "The Telecommunications Law, in a broader view, will create a foundation for digital transformation, towards a digital society and digital citizens," the National Assembly Chairman emphasized.

Focusing on major policies will prolong the life of new laws.

The National Assembly Chairman reviewed a number of recently amended laws related to digital transformation and affirmed that the amendment of the Telecommunications Law is part of the overall service for digital transformation, placed in the overall to be consistent with other laws.

According to the National Assembly Chairman, the 2009 Telecommunications Law mainly focuses on regulating "telecommunications business activities", while this draft defines it more broadly as "telecommunications activities".

Telecommunications activities are not simply pure business. They include the right to participate in telecommunications activities; the right to ensure telecommunications safety, both for service providers and users; the issue of fair competition in telecommunications activities...

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue

The National Assembly Chairman acknowledged that the drafting committee has made many efforts in this direction, including very good provisions, but needs to focus on major policies for the law to have a long life.

Noting that this law has cross-border issues, both domestically and internationally, the National Assembly Chairman emphasized: "Digital transformation is related to national digital sovereignty and information security, so latecomer countries like us have opportunities."

Regarding international commitments, the National Assembly Chairman pointed out that there are 5 groups that must be reviewed to complete the draft Law on Telecommunications (amended), including: Commitment to open the market; Commitment to institutions and the telecommunications business environment; Commitments related to international law in general; Regulations on procedures at forums and professional organizations; Concepts in the telecommunications field that have been defined in international treaties.

Going into specific content, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that data centers, cloud computing services, and OTT are increasingly popular, greatly affecting social life, rights and interests of individuals and organizations.

In the draft law, some countries such as China, Thailand and South Korea have built this law with the nature of telecommunications services, so the addition is necessary to ensure national interests and consumer interests. This is the view of the drafting agency.

Another opinion suggested considering including these three services in the draft Law on Telecommunications (amended) at an appropriate level, ensuring encouragement for the development of telecommunications technology, without affecting foreign investment attraction activities in Vietnam.

This opinion also recommends studying international experience to more specifically regulate the business of data centers, cloud computing services, and OTT in terms of management levels and conditions.

“I personally and the National Assembly Standing Committee follow this direction,” said the National Assembly Chairman. He noted that inappropriate regulations will be very complicated to implement. Therefore, the bill must have a comprehensive view.

“Don’t think that technical laws like this don’t have a big impact, this is a game that countries are very interested in. The important thing when building laws is to follow the big point of view, then the technical design will not be too difficult,” Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized.

Some other opinions expressed concerns about the way of providing services as stipulated in the draft Law because the management and provision of OTT services is still a controversial topic in many countries.

Law amendment is “absolutely necessary”

Delegate Hoang Duc Thang (Quang Tri) commented that the 2009 Telecommunications Law has been implemented for 13 years now, and has a relatively good "lifespan".

According to a delegate from Quang Tri province, the telecommunications sector moves very quickly each year, technology has gone very far but the legal framework was issued a long time ago, so this amendment is "very necessary".

According to Mr. Thang, the overview of the draft Law on Telecommunications (amended) has "touched" the basics from the scope of regulation to the rights of organizations and individuals participating in telecommunications activities...

National Assembly Delegate Hoang Duc Thang

Believing that the draft is still heavily focused on telecommunications business, and other contents have not been clearly expressed, delegates suggested that the drafting agency review the chapters and articles to make appropriate adjustments.

Regarding Article 4 which states the State's policy on telecommunications "to create conditions for organizations and all economic sectors to participate in telecommunications investment and business to create a breakthrough in telecommunications infrastructure development", the delegate commented that the word "breakthrough" is not the language of the law but is similar to a resolution or action program, so this word should not be used.

Speaking at the Hanoi delegation, delegate Ta Dinh Thi (Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Science, Technology and Environment) said that the Resolution of the 13th Central Committee on continuing to promote industrialization and modernization of the country until 2030, with a vision to 2045, in which digital infrastructure is identified as essential and ensuring network information security is key, going fast and going first.

According to the Hanoi delegation, the target by 2025 is for the digital economy to account for about 20%. Along with that, we also set a goal of digital society, which includes digital citizens and digital society.

“To achieve such goals, we must build institutions and the Telecommunications Law is part of that plan,” said delegate Ta Dinh Thi.

According to Mr. Thi, in the process of summarizing the 2009 Telecommunications Law, it has pointed out the necessary contents that need to be revised and supplemented to meet practical requirements.

In the review report, the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment emphasized that the content of this law amendment is to expand the scope of regulation to contents such as: Data center services; Cloud computing; Telecommunications services to suit the new development context.

"In the draft Law, I see these contents basically meet the requirements," Mr. Thi said.

Delegate Ly Van Huan, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Thai Nguyen Provincial People's Procuracy, proposed to add to the prohibitions a number of acts: "Taking advantage of one's position and power to leak information"; "using technology to interfere with telecommunications activities"...

In addition, he also pointed out the fact that through prosecution and trial activities, many crimes related to telecommunications activities, although the investigation agency, the People's Procuracy, and the court requested to provide documents, it was very slow. This caused great difficulty for the investigation agency.

“For example, with online fraud crimes, personal identification information, banking activities, etc., the investigation agency really wants to be provided promptly, but the agencies provide it very slowly, leading to ineffective investigations,” delegate Huan cited.

Therefore, delegate Huan expressed his wish that this law would stipulate that, when requested by the prosecution agencies, State agencies, including telecommunications, must provide information promptly and within a clear time limit to ensure investigation progress.

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