Supplementing regulations on responsibilities of telecommunications enterprises and subscribers

Continuing the 6th Session, 15th tenure, on the afternoon of October 25, the National Assembly discussed in the hall a number of contents with different opinions of the draft Law on Telecommunications (amended).

Regulations on procedures for auctioning mobile subscriber numbers

Presenting the Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Law, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy said that after acceptance and revision, the draft Law consists of 10 Chapters and 73 Articles. Of which, 51 Articles on content are amended and supplemented; 5 Articles on technique are amended and supplemented; some provisions in 21 Articles are abolished...

Regarding the auction of the right to use telecommunications numbers and Internet resources, the Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment said that there were opinions suggesting the need to remove obstacles and ensure the implementation of the auction of the right to use telecommunications numbers and Internet resources.

Incorporating the opinions of National Assembly deputies, the draft Law was revised in the direction of regulating the types of telecommunications resources granted through auction; at the same time, regulating the method of determining the starting price for each type of resource based on international experience, in accordance with the economic development situation and people's consumption level.

Accordingly, the starting price for the auction of mobile subscribers is determined by the average gross domestic product (GDP) per capita at current prices of the year immediately preceding the auction date calculated for one day. The draft law also stipulates the order and procedures for the auction to be carried out in accordance with the law on property auctions.

Regarding information on subscriber information management, preventing SIM cards with incorrect subscriber information - spam SIM cards, unwanted calls and messages, the Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment said that some opinions proposed strict regulations on the rights and responsibilities of telecommunications enterprises and subscriber owners in managing mobile subscriber information, preventing and handling spam SIM cards, calls, spam messages, fraudulent calls to social network accounts and all activities related to mobile subscribers; regulations on handling this subscriber if there is a violation related to that mobile subscriber.

In response to delegates' opinions, the draft law has added regulations on the responsibilities of telecommunications enterprises and telecommunications service users in managing subscriber information, preventing and handling SIM cards with incorrect subscriber information, unwanted calls and messages, and fraudulent calls.

At the same time, to strengthen measures to prevent unwanted calls, messages, and scam calls, the draft Law has added provisions prohibiting the use of devices and software to illegally access public telecommunications networks in Clause 5, Article 9.

Regarding the proposal to stipulate that mobile subscribers must be responsible for social network accounts and all activities related to the mobile subscription of which they are the owner, and to stipulate sanctions for these subscribers if violations related to that mobile subscription occur, the National Assembly Standing Committee noted that Point c, Clause 2, Article 15 stipulates that users of telecommunications services must be responsible before the law for the content of information transmitted and stored on the telecommunications network. This provision includes cases where information is posted using social network accounts.

Specific sanctions for handling violations of information content will be stipulated in relevant legal documents on information content management on telecommunications networks; therefore, the National Assembly Standing Committee does not add this content to the draft law.

Regarding the expansion of the scope of regulation for 3 new services, namely OTT telecommunications services, data centers and cloud computing, the National Assembly Standing Committee found that the draft law regulating 3 new services compared to the 2009 Telecommunications Law is necessary because in the context of strong digital transformation with the convergence trend between telecommunications and information technology, a number of services have appeared that provide additional features similar to traditional telecommunications services.

These services need to be regulated in an appropriate manner, both to meet management requirements and to create favorable conditions to encourage innovation and development. Regulating the business of data center and cloud computing services will create a clear legal environment, facilitating businesses.

Regulating OTT telecommunications services will create equality among telecommunications businesses. Many countries have defined OTT telecommunications as telecommunications services, managed according to telecommunications laws. The National Assembly Standing Committee agrees with the Government's viewpoint submitted to the National Assembly on regulating 3 new services and has accepted the opinions of National Assembly deputies.

Proposal to group "nice" subscriber numbers for auction

Discussing in the hall, the majority of delegates highly appreciated the drafting agency, the reviewing agency, and relevant agencies for actively coordinating, absorbing, and revising the comments of National Assembly deputies at the 5th Session and the Conference of National Assembly deputies working full-time on this Law project.

However, delegate Duong Khac Mai (Dak Nong) requested the submitting agency and relevant agencies to continue reviewing and studying the content of this Law project to ensure its conformity with international treaties to which Vietnam is a member; at the same time, ensuring consistency, synchronization, and avoiding overlap with related law projects.

Delegates suggested that it is necessary to continue reviewing and perfecting transitional regulations; reviewing to ensure that the installation of telecommunications facilities on public headquarters must ensure safety and security for agencies and organizations managing headquarters and public assets.

“The installation of broadcasting stations must be safe and ensure the health and living conditions of surrounding residents, without affecting the operations, equipment, and facilities of state agencies, units, and residents,” said delegate Duong Khac Mai.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy presented a report explaining, accepting and revising the draft Law on Telecommunications (amended). Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

Concerned about the regulations on auctioning telecommunications service subscribers, delegate Nguyen Van Canh (Binh Dinh) agreed with the content that the starting price for auctioning terrestrial mobile telecommunications service subscribers is determined by the average gross domestic product per capita at the current price of the year immediately preceding the auction time as announced by the General Statistics Office calculated in one day.

“However, in reality, many subscription numbers have a higher value than the starting price,” said delegate Nguyen Van Canh, adding that it is necessary to group numbers with high potential value to both increase budget revenue and reduce the number of people who win the auction but do not take it. If not grouped, there will be cases of deposit abandonment when many winning auction numbers cost up to tens, hundreds of millions to billions of VND. After that, the auction winner finds that it does not meet their needs, returns the auctioned number but only loses the deposit equivalent to 262 thousand VND.

Taking the example of a series of "nice" phone numbers, delegate Nguyen Van Canh suggested consulting on a pilot auction of car license plates and proposed that this grouping be assigned to the Ministry of Information and Communications for specific regulations.

“The number of mobile subscribers after the auction fails in the groups will be transferred to the group with the lower starting price to continue the auction. The number in the group with the lowest starting price, if the auction fails, will be allocated directly to organizations and businesses,” delegate Nguyen Van Canh proposed.

According to VNA/Tin Tuc Newspaper

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