Recently, the Ministry of Information and Communications has responded to the petition of voters in Binh Thuan province regarding the price of mobile telecommunications services. The Ministry of Information and Communications said that according to statistics from the UK Cable organization - a company specializing in consulting and comparing cable television, Internet and telecommunications services headquartered in Lichfield (UK), Vietnam's mobile data service price in 2023 is the 21st cheapest out of 237 countries and territories in the world, 6th among Asian countries and 4th in ASEAN. Thus, Vietnam's mobile data service price is very low compared to other countries in the world and in the region.

In addition, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications, mobile telecommunications businesses are currently providing customers with many options with diverse service packages in terms of prices, suitable for each customer segment from students to farmers, workers, businessmen... Therefore, consumers have the right to choose packages that suit their needs as well as their ability to pay.

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4G network coverage in Vietnam is 99.8%, while high-income countries have coverage of 99.4% (Illustration: D. Tho)

Regarding the request of Binh Dinh voters to improve the quality and stability of mobile waves in ethnic minority and mountainous areas that have been covered, the Ministry of Information and Communications said: Currently, Vietnam's 4G coverage has reached 99.8% of the population.

Along with the affirmation that people in all regions of the country can now enjoy mobile services on the 4G network, the Ministry of Information and Communications also informed the National Assembly delegation of Binh Dinh province: Measurement results from i-Speed, the Ministry's Internet access speed measurement system in Vietnam and the Speedtest tool (Ookla) show that, except for cases of broken undersea optical cables, the quality of Vietnam's fixed broadband Internet is basically stable, meeting current activities such as downloading, uploading, streaming videos, social networking, music...

On the other hand, the fixed broadband Internet access service quality standards revised by the Ministry of Information and Communications in November 2022 stipulate that the minimum speed that businesses must provide is 50 Mbps. The Ministry is also researching to regulate the minimum speed for mobile broadband Internet access services of network operators.

Taking note of the opinions of Binh Dinh voters who wish the Ministry of Information and Communications to soon complete the coverage of the mobile telecommunications system in information "depressions", the Ministry of Information and Communications said it is implementing the Program to provide public telecommunications services until 2025. According to the program, the goal is that 100% of villages, hamlets, villages, hamlets, phum soc, buon, bon, and islands with households living (collectively called villages) with electricity in remote, border, island areas, and communes with especially difficult socio-economic conditions will be provided with terrestrial mobile telecommunications services.

In the information shared on February 23 at the Conference announcing the 'Information and Communications Infrastructure Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050', a representative of the Institute of Information and Communications Strategy pointed out some of Vietnam's achievements in developing telecommunications infrastructure in recent times.

Specifically, despite being a developing country with a low average income, Vietnam has a higher 4G coverage than developed countries with high income, with Vietnam's coverage being 99.8% and the rate of high-income countries being 99.4%; the smartphone usage rate is over 84%; fiber optic coverage to each household is nearly 80% compared to the world average of about 60%; and data fees in Vietnam are maintained at a low level, only half of the world average... Thanks to that, everyone has the opportunity to use the Internet and access digital space.

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The new phase of information and communication infrastructure planning focuses on developing digital infrastructure, including telecommunications infrastructure, data centers and cloud computing. (Illustration photo: Cao Hung)

With the orientation of developing IT&T infrastructure into a new generation infrastructure, opening up new development space for the country and facilitating the development of digital government, digital economy, and digital society, the new phase of IT&T infrastructure planning has set high goals for all 5 areas, including digital infrastructure and telecommunications infrastructure.

Specifically, by 2025, the fixed broadband network will meet national standards (QCVN) on service quality with the goal of universalizing to all villages and hamlets, ensuring that 100% of households have access to fiber optic cable when needed; 90% of users can access fixed Internet, with an average speed of 200 Mb/s; 90% of socio-economic organizations such as enterprises, production and business establishments, schools, hospitals, and offices in urban areas can access the Internet with an average speed of 1 Gb/s.

Along with that, the mobile broadband network also meets QCVN on service quality, with the target of a minimum average download speed of 40 Mb/s for 4G network and 100 Mb/s for 5G network; 100% of adults have smartphones.

According to the plan of the Ministry of Information and Communications, it is expected that in mid-April 2024, the Ministry of Information and Communications will provide guidance to localities on the implementation of the new phase of the Information and Communications Infrastructure Planning.

Information and Communications Infrastructure Planning focuses on digital infrastructure development . Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed that for a country to develop, it must rely on new spaces. New development spaces are mainly digital spaces. New spaces need new infrastructure, which is digital infrastructure.