The Ministry of Information and Communications recently approved the "Strategy for developing Vietnam's international optical cable system to 2030, with a vision to 2035", with the orientation of bringing Vietnam into the leading group in the region in terms of international optical cable systems, along with many high goals.

To give readers more perspectives on the story of connecting Vietnam's Internet internationally, VietNamNet reporter recently had an interview with Mr. Vu The Binh, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Internet Association - VIA.

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Mr. Vu The Binh, Vice President, General Secretary of Vietnam Internet Association. Photo: Hanh Quyen

Reporter: First of all, could you share your views on the role of international fiber optic cable systems, especially submarine fiber optic cables, in national digital infrastructure?

Mr. Vu The Binh: Internet connection has now become an essential part of Vietnamese people's lives, while most of the content and applications are located in Digital Hubs in the region, so the international fiber optic cable system, including submarine fiber optic cables, plays an extremely important role in ensuring socio-economic activities, as well as national security and defense.

In particular, the submarine optical cable system has its own characteristics and accounts for a large proportion of the available capacity of Vietnam's international Internet connection, so it naturally plays an important role in digital transformation, digital government, digital society and digital economy in Vietnam. With its large capacity and low cost, the international submarine optical cable system plays the role of the main blood vessels of Vietnam's Internet network.

So what is your comment on the strategy for developing Vietnam's international fiber optic cable system until 2030 recently approved by the Ministry of Information and Communications?

We appreciate the Ministry of Information and Communications' approval of the 'Strategy for the development of Vietnam's international optical cable system to 2030, with a vision to 2035'. The need for an Internet connection strategy for Vietnam is urgent. Through this strategy, we can also see the vision, goals, objectives and some specific solutions for Vietnam's international optical cable system in the next 5-10 years.

The contents of the strategy will also be a valuable source of information for multinational companies, major domestic and regional telecommunications operators, as well as other “players” in the Internet ecosystem in Vietnam.

Developing an international fiber optic cable system is like building a highway system, it is very expensive and takes a long time to deploy. Therefore, having a strategy will help guide the implementation. Of course, in today's era, strategies also need to be regularly evaluated and adjusted to suit both objective and subjective changes.

I think that some specific goals in the strategy will certainly help Vietnam to be more self-reliant in connecting to the Internet, specifically connecting to regional Hubs. With the scale and strength of the telecommunications market, the Internet and large telecommunications enterprises, it is time for Vietnam to be more proactive in the regional 'connectivity playground'.

Domestic cooperation, including cooperation between telecommunications enterprises to jointly invest and exploit international fiber optic infrastructure, has been identified as one of the four main solutions of the strategy. The Vietnam telecommunications infrastructure development plan for the period 2024 - 2025 also assigns specific tasks to major network operators. What do you think about this new perspective and approach?

Although the international optical cable 'game' is getting easier for telecommunications businesses, I believe that the synergy of businesses is the decisive factor. The nature of international optical cable connections is multilateral - multi-beneficial, so it is necessary to encourage Vietnamese businesses to cooperate with each other to jointly promote international connection efforts.

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Mr. Vu The Binh said that Vietnam's strategy to develop an international fiber optic cable system creates investment motivation and synergy for network operators. Illustration photo: Internet

In addition to working together, Vietnamese telecommunications enterprises have, are and will continue to cooperate with foreign enterprises to build and maintain international fiber optic cable systems connecting multinationals. Obviously, when there is internal 'solidarity', Vietnamese telecommunications enterprises will achieve better long-term benefits. Competing with each other is a challenge that Vietnamese telecommunications enterprises need to overcome together, in order to pursue better long-term common benefits.

On the other hand, we should not forget that international fiber optic cables can be deployed on land, crossing the borders of neighboring countries. Currently and in the future, telecommunications enterprises still need to deploy and maintain fiber optic cables on land, to at least ensure network security, as well as take advantage of bilateral and multilateral business opportunities.

From the perspective of the Vietnam Internet Association, what are the key points to ensure that the international fiber optic cable system development strategy is implemented in the right direction and achieves the goals according to the set roadmap, sir?

Investing in international fiber optic infrastructure is a costly and long-term investment with a long payback period. Therefore, if it is just a matter of each business, we believe it is very difficult to achieve the progress as expected by the strategy.

Having a strategy for Vietnam's international fiber optic cable system is very positive, but we think that management agencies should continue to periodically review and synchronize this strategy with other strategies, such as strategies related to data centers, foreign investment in Vietnam, data migration from the region to Vietnam as well as 5G development, promoting domestic digital transformation, domestic connection systems, etc.

The international fiber optic cable connection system is at the infrastructure level. If it is built but there is no data and applications running on it, it is like building a highway but there are no cars running on it, affecting economic efficiency. If it is not built in time for development, the opportunity will be missed.

For telecommunications businesses, I think this is an opportunity to seek synergies, to win together in the medium and long term.

Thank you!

From the submarine cable incident, Vietnam has the opportunity to become a regional connection hub . Through handling the situation of many submarine cable incidents, the Ministry of Information and Communications has seen a new opportunity to develop submarine cable routes, making Vietnam a regional connection hub, reducing dependence on the two main current hubs of Singapore and Hong Kong (China).