Vietnam achieves higher 4G coverage rate than high-income countries

On the afternoon of November 7, in Hanoi, under the chairmanship and direction of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, the National Assembly questioned ministers in the fields of science and technology; education and training; culture, sports and tourism; health; labor, war invalids and social affairs; and information and communications.

Responding to questions about information coverage in remote areas, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said: Since 2021, when the Covid-19 epidemic appeared, the Prime Minister issued the Waves and Computers for Children program. The Ministry has directed network operators and the Department of Information and Communications to review each area across the country, even places with only a few dozen houses, to conduct coverage in areas with low signal.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung answers questions from the National Assembly on the afternoon of November 7. Photo: Internet.

To date, 2,100 signal depressions have been covered. Vietnam's 4G phone coverage rate currently reaches 99.8% of the population. Meanwhile, high-income countries only reach an average of 99.4%. In 2023, localities will discover and identify 420 more signal depressions to cover. This number has been included in the plan and the public telecommunications fund will be used to complete it before June 2024.

Regarding the Ministry of Information and Communications' goal of having 4G coverage for all of the population by 2025; and 5G coverage for 100% of the population by 2030, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that Vietnam has so far covered 99.8% of the population with 4G, so by 2025 it will achieve the goal of full coverage. At the end of this year, 5G frequencies will be auctioned. Network operators install 5G broadcasting stations on old infrastructure, so investment is reduced and deployment time is faster. The goal of 5G coverage will be achieved by 2030 and possibly faster.

Responding to questions from delegates about advertising and advertising of unverified medical foods, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that these advertisements are on cross-border social networking platforms. In recent times, Vietnam has had a mechanism to work with these platforms to remove toxic information and false advertising. Along with that, it has institutionalized regulations on the responsibilities of the parties. According to the Minister, the rate of implementation of state management requirements on removing toxic and false information on social networks is currently very strict. However, the problem is that there must be detection and reporting.

The Minister of Information and Communications emphasized that the issue is that whatever ministries, sectors, and localities manage in the real world must also move to cyberspace and implement management in cyberspace. If implementation is difficult, the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Ministry of Public Security will support.

Responding to a delegate’s question about protecting users in cyberspace, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that social network management will be amended in Decree 72, expected to be issued by the Government at the end of this year. This is a basic decree for social network management, including handling privacy violations.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that after having a system, there needs to be an institution to support the people. The Ministry of Information and Communications has also established a national fake news processing center, but it is also necessary to establish deeper processing centers in the provinces to support the people.

In addition, the Ministry of Information and Communications also coordinates with the Ministry of Public Security to strictly handle and criminally prosecute a number of key cases to serve as deterrence./.

vietnam.vn