On September 16, telecommunications networks in Vietnam will turn off 2G waves. Accordingly, people using phones that only support 2G technology will be forced to switch to 4G/5G.

2G phone
There are still 11 million 2G subscribers that need to be converted to 4G in the next 2 months. Photo: Phuong Le

There are still 11 million 2G subscribers active in the market and need to switch to 4G/5G in the next 2 months. This is considered a significant pressure for network operators.

At the discussion "Shutting down 2G, what do people need?" organized by VietNamNet Newspaper in collaboration with the Department of Telecommunications (Ministry of Information and Communications) in Hanoi on July 18, there were concerns about whether there would be network congestion or communication congestion if on the last day people rushed to switch from 2G to 4G/5G?

According to Mr. Le Dac Kien, Deputy General Director of VNPT VinaPhone, there will be no major problems related to the network when people rush to switch from 2G to 4G/5G at the same time, because in reality this group of customers does not have much demand. VinaPhone will try to make 4G coverage not inferior to 2G coverage in the near future.

Mr. Bui Son Nam, Deputy General Director of MobiFone also shared that on the network side, the rate of 2G users has decreased very quickly, now about less than 5% of customers. MobiFone has deployed many solutions to support customers to switch to smartphones, support packages, participate with device retail chains to support the switch; deploy programs to support 4G feature phones.

According to MobiFone representative, currently 100% of 2G SIMs have been converted and all MobiFone customers have 4G SIMs. Therefore, when 2G signal is turned off, customers only need a terminal device that supports 4G/5G to be able to use it without having to change SIMs.

“Because the needs of the 2G Only user group are mainly for calling, when using OTT services, voice and SMS output even decreases. Therefore, when users switch, MobiFone completely ensures that the network quality can meet the demand, as long as users have a device, they can use it,” said Mr. Bui Son Nam.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Trong Tinh, Deputy General Director of Viettel Telecom, also said that Viettel is the network operator with the largest number of subscribers, so the number of 2G subscribers is also very large. In the first 6 months of 2024, this network operator converted more than 2 million subscribers, a very high number compared to previous years.

Regarding the fact that people rushed to switch from 2G to 4G/5G in the last days near the September 16 deadline, Mr. Nguyen Trong Tinh shared that Viettel also anticipated this. In June 2024, Viettel conducted a trial cut in 14 districts and everything went smoothly. The shutdown of 2G waves on Viettel's network will take place according to schedule and it is expected that by September 2024, there will only be about 1 million 2G subscribers left on the network.

“We predict there will be no network congestion next September, if there is, it will be insignificant,” said Mr. Nguyen Trong Tinh.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Phong Nha, Deputy Director of the Department of Telecommunications (Ministry of Information and Communications) informed that VinaPhone will invest in 55,000 BTS stations from now until September, MobiFone, Viettel also invested heavily in this. In fact, the network operators have invested heavily in resources, human resources, and quality to prepare for the upcoming shutdown of 2G waves.

Mr. Nguyen Phong Nha emphasized that, from the perspective of the management agency, the conversion must ensure the benefits and rights of users, in harmony with the interests of businesses. With the issued quality standards, users can be assured of the quality of services.