Vietnam has chosen to turn off 2G waves to promote the implementation of the goals in the National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a vision to 2030, approved by the Prime Minister. In particular, the program aims to popularize 4G/5G mobile networks and smartphones to the Vietnamese people.
This will be a revolution to promote e-Government, digital economy, digital society... quickly and also an important driving force for Vietnam to develop faster and stronger. When 100% of people use smartphones, it will promote richer digital services, more data services are used, network operators have more revenue and new development opportunities.
The Ministry of Information and Communications said that in preparation for the roadmap to turn off 2G waves, a series of policies have been issued. Accordingly, from July 1, 2021, the "National Technical Regulation on Terrestrial Mobile Terminal Equipment" officially took effect, requiring mobile terminal equipment manufactured and imported into Vietnam to support 4G technology or higher.
Along with the above policy, the Department of Telecommunications (Ministry of Information and Communications) said that VoLTE is a technology that allows high-quality phone calls on the 4G network platform, bringing new, higher-end experiences to customers. In the past time, the Department of Telecommunications has coordinated with mobile businesses, manufacturers/manufacturers/dealers providing smartphones such as Apple, Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, Nokia, Realme... to agree to: Review and release system software versions for new 4G phones that are capable of supporting and updating to enable the VoLTE feature. From July 1, 2021, newly manufactured smartphones will integrate 4G, enabling the VoLTE feature by default.
In July 2022, HMD Mobile Vietnam - the company with a large market share of basic phones in the domestic market, said that Nokia's basic phones with only 2G waves were almost out of stock in retail channels. "According to our observations, after more than 1 year since Decree 43 of the Government took effect, the number of 2G keypad phones in retail channels is currently not much. Meanwhile, the number of Nokia-branded 4G keypad phones sold has a rapid growth rate at the same time," HMD Mobile Vietnam informed.
2G will be turned off in September 2024
Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Pham Duc Long said that 2G waves will be turned off by September 2024. Frequency licenses granted to network operators deploying 2G networks will expire in September 2024. The Ministry of Information and Communications will re-plan, the 1800MHz and 1900MHz bands will not serve 2G Only devices in the future.
Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long added that perhaps 2G waves will need to be maintained for a while longer, not to serve 2G devices, but to serve some 4G devices. According to statistics, there are currently about 15 million 4G devices in Vietnam that cannot use high-quality VoLTE calls and messages on the 4G network, and must be switched to 2G and 3G networks. The representative of the Ministry of Information and Communications also said that the usage cycle of a terminal device is about 3 years. Since 2020, the Ministry of Information and Communications has issued regulations prohibiting the import of 2G devices. Devices imported into the Vietnamese market are currently through unofficial channels. Thus, 2G devices in Vietnam are at the end of their usage cycle, and when they break down, they will be replaced by users.
To protect the rights of people when turning off 2G stations, the Ministry of Information and Communications has directed the Departments of Information and Communications to conduct inspections nationwide to detect, prevent, and handle the import, distribution, circulation, and purchase and sale of terrestrial mobile information terminals in violation of the law. The Ministry of Information and Communications requests the Departments of Information and Communications to proactively review and, based on the actual situation, plan to inspect branches of chain-model businesses, businesses and individual business households in the area, ensuring that there are no more 2G Only and 3G Only mobile phones in circulation in the area. The Departments of Information and Communications of provinces and cities are also responsible for coordinating with market management forces, customs, police, etc. to inspect and prevent the purchase and sale and circulation of 2G Only and 3G Only mobile phones in violation of regulations.
The Ministry of Information and Communications is also considering a more drastic solution, which is to block 2G phones from joining new networks and only maintain the 2G phones currently in use on the system. This will prevent the flow of smuggled “brick” phones into Vietnam, affecting the roadmap for shutting down 2G waves. This is also a measure to quickly bring people to the digital environment.
Network operators and localities plan to turn off 2G and 3G signals
Up to this point, major carriers have turned off 2G and 3G signals in areas with low demand for this service. In addition to offering incentives for data customers, carriers have also prepared cheap 4G "brick" phones, used only for voice and text messaging services, to serve a class of customers with this need. For example, Viettel Telecom is implementing major incentive policies to help people have better access to 4G. Specifically, customers who text 4G to 191 will have the opportunity to receive a free ST30 4G package with 7GB of data for 7 days. This carrier also launched a number of 4G phones with prices starting from only 290,000 VND, and at the same time, 100% free data traffic when customers watch entertainment content on the TV360 application.
Sharing with VietNamNet , a representative of VNPT affirmed that turning off 2G waves will reduce operating costs for network operators. Network operators can reserve this frequency for new technologies to better serve customer needs. A representative of VNPT also said that the rate of subscribers using 2G services is currently decreasing sharply, while the number of subscribers using 5G smartphones is increasing rapidly. This is a favorable trend for turning off 2G waves. However, choosing the time to turn off the waves is very important because it will help network operators reduce the cost of supporting terminals for customers.
Sharing his views on the proposal to shut down 2G, Mr. Tao Duc Thang, Chairman of Viettel, said that Viettel supports the Ministry of Information and Communications' decision to shut down 2G. The goal of shutting down 2G is to encourage users to use smartphones and data. This will promote the development of the digital economy and digital society in the future.
Not only network operators, some localities also proposed to turn off 2G waves. After a pilot period of turning off 2G waves in some areas, Lang Son plans to soon turn off 2G waves in the entire city and town, contributing to speeding up the popularization of smartphones.
To help people proactively switch devices and not affect communications when 2G waves are turned off, telecommunications businesses have proactively promoted, guided, and answered questions for people. The Department of Information and Communications and telecommunications businesses in Lang Son have reviewed and grasped areas with low 2G wave user rates, prepared to build 5G transmission stations, and expanded 4G coverage in the province.
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