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Vietnam is making substantial strides towards enhancing its digital infrastructure, with a comprehensive plan to achieve full mobile broadband coverage across all national highways, expressways, and railways by 2025. This ambitious initiative, recently approved by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), is designed to significantly improve the country’s mobile telecommunications network and ensure widespread deployment of 5G technology.
The strategy aims to elevate user experiences for both individuals and businesses, supporting growth in the digital economy, digital society, and e-government. Additionally, the plan includes expanding mobile broadband access to remote villages and hamlets currently without service, ensuring uninterrupted coverage along major transport routes.
Central to this initiative is the phasing out of 2G services nationwide, with exceptions made only for the Spratly and Paracel Islands and offshore oil rigs. By 2025, the plan envisions that all provinces and cities will have 5G coverage, including high-tech zones, research and innovation centres, industrial parks, airports, and seaports.
The expected average download speed for 5G services is projected to reach a minimum of 100 Mbps. The Vietnam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA) will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of this plan, collaborating with relevant agencies and major telecommunications companies to address challenges and enhance network quality.
In tandem with these efforts, Vietnam is advancing rapidly in its digital transformation through several key initiatives aimed at improving internet connectivity and strengthening the digital economy. A critical component of this progress is the goal of providing fibre-optic cable access to all 27 million households by the end of 2025.
This objective is part of the broader 2021-2030 digital infrastructure strategy, which was endorsed by the Prime Minister in January 2024. Currently, 5.4 million households lack fibre-optic services, and 2,052 hamlets with electricity from the national grid do not have broadband internet. The plan aims to connect an additional 2.7 million households each year in 2024 and 2025, with the ultimate goal of achieving 100% fibre-optic coverage by the end of the period.
The strategy also includes a nationwide 5G rollout, which is expected to support economic growth and digital development. Vietnam has announced an ambitious plan to bolster its digital infrastructure by constructing at least 10 new undersea cable routes by 2030, increasing the total number of routes to 15, with a combined capacity of 350 Tbps.
This initiative, guided by the Ministry of Information and Communications, aims to position Vietnam as a regional digital hub by establishing direct connections to major digital centres in Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.
As part of this plan, four new cables are set to be launched by 2027, which will boost the total capacity to 134 Tbps. Between 2028 and 2030, six additional routes will be added, with the goal of maintaining up to 90% of the undersea cable capacity linked to major digital hubs in Asia. The remaining 10% will be reserved for backup connections to significant digital hubs in the Americas and Europe. These developments are crucial for supporting the nation’s growing digital economy and facilitating the deployment of 5G and future 6G technologies.
In addition to expanding its fibre-optic network and 5G infrastructure, Vietnam is also focusing on promoting its digital economy. With over 610,000 ‘.vn’ domain registrations, the country aims to increase business adoption of this domain and enhance overall digital engagement.
The comprehensive strategy includes modernising infrastructure, fostering economic growth, and positioning Vietnam as a leader in the regional digital economy. This broad effort aligns with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s directive for a decade-long development plan to enhance information and communications infrastructure and drive socio-economic progress.
