Re-auction of 'golden frequency' to develop 5G network in Vietnam

National Joint Stock Auction Company No. 5 announces the auction of the right to use the 713-723 MHz and 768-778 MHz bands (B2-B2') in the next two weeks at the Radio Frequency Department ( Ministry of Science and Technology ). The company will accept applications until May 15, 2025. The 2 B2-B2' bands will be auctioned again on May 20, even if only one enterprise participates.

To register, participating enterprises need to deposit 100 billion VND and must receive a certificate of meeting the auction conditions from the Minister of Science and Technology.

The starting price of block B2-B2' is 1,955,613,000,000 VND, made by direct voting in multiple rounds, with a price step of 20 billion VND.

B2-B2' is a frequency band planned for deploying mobile communication systems according to the IMT-Advanced standard and subsequent versions, using the frequency division duplex (FDD) method.

The value of a frequency depends on whether it operates on a wide or narrow band and whether it is low or high frequency. The wider the band, the higher the data transmission speed. The lower the band, the farther the mobile signal can travel. Because it is low frequency, 700 MHz has a wider coverage area than any other band that has been auctioned, so it is called the 'gold band.'

In the auction plan, the Ministry of Science and Technology does not force businesses to deploy 5G in this frequency band, but the owning network operator will have an advantage in coverage.

Director of the Frequency Department Le Van Tuan once commented that, in theory, to be effective, 4G needs both frequency bands to increase access speed (high frequency band) and frequency bands to improve coverage quality (low frequency band). Network operators need low frequency bands to optimize coverage when deploying 5G Stand-alone (independent 5G network, not dependent on 4G infrastructure) and to rebalance coverage between up and down areas.

In the plan to organize the B2-B2 frequency band auction, at the end of March 2025, the Ministry of Science and Technology requested businesses to commit to deploying at least 2,000 new mobile broadcasting stations within two years from the date of being granted the license.

The winning network operator must deploy at least 650 new stations in coastal and island areas, and cover 100% of expressways by 2030. The enterprise is required to broadcast no later than 12 months from the date of licensing. At that time, at least 30% of the committed number of stations must broadcast.

In February 2025, the auction of the B2-B2' frequency band had to be canceled due to a lack of businesses, as only one unit submitted a deposit. The Radio Frequency Department said that the new point of the re-auction plan in May 2025 is that this activity will be carried out even if only one business participates.

Previously in 2024, the Ministry of Information and Communications , now the Ministry of Science and Technology, successfully auctioned three frequency bands B1 (2,500-2,600 MHz), C2 (3,700-3,800 MHz) and C3 (3,800 - 3,900 MHz)./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tien-hanh-dau-gia-lai-tan-so-vang-de-phat-trien-mang-5g-tai-viet-nam-post1036684.vnp