Pure 2G and 3G phones will be locked from December 2023

To promote digital transformation, popularizing smartphones to the entire population is important and necessary. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phuc, Director of the Department of Telecommunications - Ministry of Information and Communications, recently said that according to the plan of the National Digital Transformation Committee, the number of smartphone users nationwide must reach 80% of mobile phone users this year.

Decree No. 25/2011/ND-CP dated April 6, 2011 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Telecommunications stipulates that terminal equipment on the list of devices that are likely to cause unsafety issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications must undergo conformity certification or conformity declaration before being circulated on the market or connected to the public telecommunications network.

Meanwhile, Circular No. 04/2023/TT-BTTTT of the Ministry of Information and Communications dated May 31, 2023 stipulating the list of products and goods that are potentially unsafe under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Information and Communications and Circular No. 43/2020/TT-BTTTT dated December 31, 2020 of the Ministry of Information and Communications promulgating the "National technical regulation on terrestrial mobile information terminal equipment - Radio access part " stipulates that terrestrial mobile phones must support E-UTRA FDD (4G) technology from July 1, 2021, which means that only 2G and 3G devices are illegal.

According to the Telecommunications Department, this unit has released a list of pure 2G phone models that have been certified to comply with regulations before July 1, 2021 and announced it to all network operators. Accordingly, this is a legal list for network operators to have a basis to stop illegal pure 2G devices from the network.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phuc said that the Telecommunications Department has worked with network operators and the network operators have committed to locking 2G-only devices from December 2023. Accordingly, recently, network operators have developed technical solutions to remove pure 2G and 3G devices from the network.

The Telecommunications Department has also requested network operators to report the number of subscribers using illegal 2G devices that can be locked. It is expected that in September 2023, there will be data to announce and communicate to people using non-standard, non-compliant 2G only devices that will be disconnected from the network and have appropriate conversion plans. This measure will come into effect around December 2023.

In addition, inspection and control of import, distribution and circulation of pure 2G and 3G devices will also be implemented. The Ministry of Information and Communications sent a document to the Departments of Information and Communications on August 17, 2023, requesting that the Departments of Information and Communications inspect the branches of enterprises operating in the chain model and individual business households to ensure that there are no more 2G and 3G only mobile phones in circulation in the area; Must coordinate with market management, customs, and police to inspect and prevent the purchase and sale of 2G and 3G only mobile phones that violate regulations and send the results to the Ministry of Information and Communications before November 30, 2023.

Thus, according to the Director of the Telecommunications Department , "by December 2023, there will be many strong solutions and hopefully the rate of 2G and 3G only devices that do not comply with legal regulations will be removed from the network relatively large ."

Support 2G devices with cost up to 50% of device value

According to the Telecommunications Department, another solution to encourage users to switch to smartphones is for network operators to develop and implement a plan to convert 2G/3G subscribers to 4G smartphones by supporting smartphone costs for those who are using 2G devices, with costs that can be up to 50% of the device price.

The Vietnam Public Telecommunications Service Fund - Ministry of Information and Communications has set up a budget to support this, which can cost up to 500,000 VND/smartphone for about 400,000 devices for poor and near-poor households through network operators. Provinces with low smartphone numbers will be given priority support.

After reviewing the smartphone rate nationwide, Director Nguyen Thanh Phuc said that for provinces with low smartphone usage rates, additional solutions should be added to mobilize social resources to support the transition to smartphones. “ Bac Kan is a province with not-so-favorable conditions, but it has mobilized funds to support people in transitioning to smartphones. I hope other provinces can follow Bac Kan’s experience and do the same.”

In addition, network operators need to have a fee policy to support subscribers to switch, free data for customers for 36 months to experience the service when using 4G devices or higher, and build good content applications to attract many users.

“The Departments of Information and Communications are requested to compile a list of poor and near-poor households to have priority solutions and support the transition to smartphones; Coordinate and direct branches of network operators to implement programs to support subscribers to switch to smartphones in the area. The Departments of Information and Communications also direct local network branches to implement this support policy and communicate locally, as well as organize the deployment of online public service applications, attract many users to encourage people to switch to using smartphones locally,” said the Director of the Department of Telecommunications.

According to the Department of Telecommunications, through a review of smartphone usage rates in localities, provinces with smartphone rates above 80% are in group 1, provinces with smartphone rates below 80% are in group 2. Group 1 has 25 provinces, group 2 has 38 provinces.

Pure 2G and 3G phones will be locked from December 2023 - 2

Rate of smartphone subscribers in provinces and cities (Source: Department of Telecommunications)

However, although group 1 includes disadvantaged provinces, they have high smartphone usage rates such as Son La, Lai Chau, Yen Bai, Bac Kan, etc. Group 2 includes some provinces with relatively good economic conditions such as Hai Duong, Long An, Quang Nam, etc., but have low smartphone usage rates.

Strong communication

To effectively implement the move to stop pure 2G and 3G phones from the telecommunications network, propaganda about policies and regulations is very important.

According to the Telecommunications Department, with a direct messaging channel to subscribers, network operators also need to communicate directly to customers to inform users that non-compliant 2G devices are illegal and will be disconnected from the network, encouraging people to switch to smartphones that telecommunications companies are willing to support the conversion. In particular, network operators must strictly implement the blocking of 2G devices according to the direction of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

"Mobile businesses send messages and make direct calls to customers, through online communication channels, and at transaction points to ensure that this communication reaches each customer using pure 2G and 3G devices," emphasized Nguyen Thanh Phuc, Director of the Department of Telecommunications.

According to the Department of Telecommunications, there are still about 23 million 2G subscribers. Accordingly, the Ministry of Information and Communications will strongly communicate so that people understand that stopping the use of pure 2G and 3G phones not only brings benefits to themselves but also contributes to the correct implementation of regulations. Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications through the grassroots information system, local newspapers and radio channels needs to strongly promote this policy.

(Source: Information and Communication Magazine)

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