The above direction of Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh, Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Committee on Digital Transformation has just been announced by the Government Office to ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government agencies and chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities.

Based on the review of the recommendations of the Ministry of Information and Communications in the report on national digital transformation in October 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh also directed the heads of ministries, branches and localities to prioritize resources, promptly complete on schedule, with quality and efficiency the assigned tasks in the action plan of the National Committee on Digital Transformation in 2024 and the digital transformation plan in 2024 of ministries and provinces.

At the same time, complete the development of digital transformation projects of ministries, branches and localities as required by the Prime Minister in Directive 34 dated September 16, 2024.

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The digital infrastructure strategy to 2025 and vision to 2030 has clearly stated that digital infrastructure is the foundation for Vietnam to become a modern, smart digital nation. Illustration photo: D.T.

Comprising four main components: telecommunications and Internet infrastructure, data infrastructure, physical-digital infrastructure, digital utility infrastructure and digital technology as services, Vietnam's digital infrastructure has been determined to have super-large capacity, super-wide bandwidth, universality, sustainability, greenness, intelligence, openness and safety to meet the requirements of developing a digital economy, digital society, digital government, contributing to ensuring national defense and security.

Vietnam's viewpoint on digital infrastructure development has been clearly stated in the 'Digital Infrastructure Strategy to 2025 and Vision to 2030', which is that the State prioritizes the development and protection of digital infrastructure such as transport infrastructure and energy infrastructure, on par with developed countries.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, regarding digital infrastructure development, the rate of mobile phone subscribers using smartphones reached 88.7% and the rate of households with broadband fiber optic Internet reached 82.3%.

Regarding the resolution of mobile signal depressions, during the isolation period due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Information and Communications directed network operators to provide mobile coverage to more than 2,500 villages and hamlets with signal depressions, bringing the 4G coverage rate to 99.8%, higher than the average rate of developed countries (99.4%).

As of early October, there were still 761 villages and hamlets nationwide with no mobile signal. Of these, 543 villages and hamlets were in extremely disadvantaged areas.

Statistics from the Ministry of Information and Communications also show that, in 761 villages and hamlets with mobile phone signal loss, 637 villages and hamlets have electricity and 124 villages and hamlets do not have electricity.

Regarding the deployment of infrastructure to provide fixed broadband Internet access services, there are still 3,551 villages without fiber optic cables to the village.

Regarding the commercialization of 5G telecommunications services, in 2024, the Ministry of Information and Communications successfully organized an auction for the right to use radio frequencies with 5G deployment bands and licensed Viettel, VNPT and MobiFone to deploy 5G commercially.

Since mid-October, Viettel has launched a 5G network, with 6,500 BTS stations covering 100% of the capitals of 63/63 provinces and cities, industrial parks, tourist areas, seaports, airports, hospitals, and universities.

In the national digital transformation report for October 2024, the Ministry of Information and Communications pointed out that one of the limitations is the difficulty in developing digital infrastructure.

Specifically, there are still 124 villages that do not have electricity, or have electricity but the electricity is not enough to ensure the operation of BTS stations; deploying generators to supply electricity to BTS stations will be very costly for businesses, while the revenue does not cover the costs.

In addition, some villages have difficult terrain, so the cost of investing in power transmission, fiber optic cables and station construction in these areas is very expensive.

To overcome the above difficulties, the Ministry of Information and Communications recommends that in the coming time, relevant ministries and branches including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, EVN Group and localities create favorable conditions in terms of infrastructure such as locations, power grids, etc. for mobile telecommunications enterprises to cover low-lying areas; as well as bring fiber optic cables to villages, meeting the needs of households.

The foundation for Vietnam to become a modern, smart digital nation The "Digital Infrastructure Strategy to 2025 and Vision to 2030" recently approved by the Prime Minister clearly identifies digital infrastructure as the foundation for Vietnam to become a modern, smart digital nation.