5G key for Việt Nam in Industry 4.0

HÀ NỘI — As part of plans to catch up with developed economies, Việt Nam is looking to embrace Industry 4.0.

Party General Secretary, President Nguyễn Phú Trọng last year signed Resolution 52-NQ/TW on behalf of the Politburo outlining guidelines and policies to actively participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In the resolution, the Politburo set a target of affordable nationwide 5G network coverage by 2030.

To realise this ambitious vision, the Government is planning to test fifth-generation mobile networks in major urban centres such as Hà Nội and HCM City.

The 5G race is heating up globally. Ten countries had commercialised 5G as of September last year, including S Korea, Japan, China, the US, Australia, the UK, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Russia.

To broadcast 5G networks commercially next year will be difficult, but with the technology it could open up new opportunities and create business operation models that could change the economy, helping Việt Nam break out to become a strong tech country. The Government and relevant ministries, localities and telecommunications firms are making efforts to concentrate their resources to reach the target.

The road to 5G

At the ASEAN Conference on 5G and the development of a digital ASEAN held in Hà Nội in March last year, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng emphasised: “In the coming years, ASEAN will consider 5G its number one priority in ICT co-operation activities. Việt Nam is ready to co-operate with other ASEAN members to deploy 5G and promote a digital transformation.”

The minister also said that Việt Nam was focusing on developing tech enterprises and manufacturing IoT devices, telecommunications equipment, 5G chipsets and surveillance cameras.

Việt Nam’s e-government development index ranked 88 out of 193 countries in 2018, of which the online public service index rose 10 places to rank 59th out of 193 countries.

The Government has issued the first licence to test 5G for Viettel, the country’s largest mobile operator, with more than 60 million subscribers in a country with a population of nearly 100 million.

The telco tested 5G in Hà Nội and HCM City in May last year, and tests are expected to be completed this month.

In April, Viettel said it had successfully tested a 5G broadcasting station in Hà Nội at a speed of 600 to 700 Mbps, on a par with Verizon’s network in the US.

Other mobile carriers including MobiFone and Vinaphone are also expected to launch their own 5G networks next year.

MobiFone has been issued a licence to become the second operator to conduct 5G network testing.

Notably, Viettel claimed that it had developed its own core technologies for 5G networks, including chips and devices. In fact, the group said it was aiming to produce 80 per cent of the core network infrastructure needed for the network this year. The rest would come from outside suppliers.

MobiFone has chosen to go with Samsung technology, while Vinaphone is co-operating with Nokia.

In the process of Việt Nam deploying 5G, many leading technology corporations in the world have expressed their interest in working closely with the Government, carriers, and private enterprises to help the country properly implement its 5G coverage plan and commercialise the technology this year.

5G technology would bring a new economy, helping the country create a series of new products for smart cities, said the Việt Nam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA) under the Ministry of Information and Communications.

In the first phase of 5G technology, many Vietnamese enterprises will focus their resources on producing 5G chipset processors. These are considered the “heart” of 5G technology.

Long way ahead with difficulties and opportunities

Although there have been proactive steps in deploying a 5G network, analysts said the road ahead for Vietnamese carriers was full of challenges and opportunities.

The number of 5G subscribers in Việt Nam is expected to reach 6.3 million by 2025, according to a 5G development report published by Cisco in October.

By deploying 5G services, Vietnamese telcos could raise their revenue by up to US$300 million each year from 2025, it noted. 

However, Vietnamese mobile service providers would have to invest $1.5-2.5 billion in infrastructure development from 2020-25 to launch and operate 5G services, the report said.

Cisco suggested Việt Nam and Southeast Asian countries needed to address the release of a slow frequency spectrum for 5G services while carriers needed to introduce 5G services with appropriate prices to encourage users to move to higher speeds.

Lê Văn Thành, technology director of Dell EMC Việt Nam, emphasised that the country had advantages with a population of a hundred million people, and the rate of smart devices connected to the internet was high compared to the global average.

The Government has also promoted 5G development with the Ministry of Information and Communications providing bandwidth for testing last year, he said.

If it succeeds, Việt Nam would be one of the first countries in the world to deploy 5G, he said.

However, Thành also said the country would face the challenge of a large number of users still using old devices operating on 2G and 3G.

5G technology requires new devices. In addition, information technology infrastructure used by most enterprises was dated. In order to be ready for 5G technology, businesses must modernise their infrastructure, Thành noted.

Regarding this issue, Lê Đăng Dũng, chairman cum acting general director of Viettel, said when 5G technology started to boom, Viettel would need its own 5G equipment. Therefore, the group must find a way to successfully develop 5G technology, he said.

More importantly, all 5G hardware and software products would be researched and produced by Viettel in Việt Nam to ensure information security, Dũng said.

Determining the production of 5G chipsets was extremely difficult and expensive, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tâm said, adding that the ministry wanted to form a community of businesses and experts to share experiences of 5G chipset production in Việt Nam in the near future. — VNS