5G rollout strategy discussed during VIR panel

During the discussion, Tran Minh Tuan, general director of the Department of Digital Economy and Digital Society under the Ministry of Information and Communications, said, "5G opens up a new chapter of service provision. New 5G packages target businesses and smart factories, ports, and warehouses with fast, accurate, and automatic equipment. While 4G is more about business-to-consumer needs for internet connection, livestreaming, e-commerce, and others, 5G will focus more on business-to-business, such as private 5G networks for factories."

"To deploy 5G infrastructure, telecommunications firms need to invest billions of dollars, and they will need to consider providing 5G coverage for the whole country or only some areas. These firms are studying international best experiences from countries such as Sweden, Norway, and China. It is vital to consider both business resources and consumer demands before deploying 5G," Tuan added.

Nguyen Dinh Tuan, a member of MobiFone's Board of Members said, "5G infrastructure presents myriad opportunities thanks to high speed, broad bandwidth, and low latency. Businesses can take advantage of advanced technologies to develop new solutions and offerings. Although Vietnamese businesses have quickly applied IT, their awareness of digital transformation is not clear. The IT application and digital transformation are just the beginning phase. MobiFone's mission is to popularise new digital transformation solutions for businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises."

"It only needs 40,000 to 60,000 base stations to expand 4G coverage across Vietnam. However, it requires many more stations to provide 5G. This is one of the major challenges to an effective rollout of 5G. Therefore, we will focus on the central areas where customers have demand for 5G. MobiFone will launch AI-products tailored to meet the needs of retail customers, household customers, corporate clients, and government clients," he added.

Alejandro Osorio, managing director of Grab Vietnam, said that Grab’s technical team is closely following the development of 5G. The team is building versions that use the least mobile data for customers to access easily.

"In the first years of Grab in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, we encountered several difficulties in changing the traditional way of ride-hailing, like encouraging customers to buy a smartphone and downloading the app. This stage was extremely difficult, given that users didn’t have much trust in using an app to call a driver they hadn’t met. We had to prove that this digital service can improve customers’ lives thanks to improved productivity and efficiency," said Osorio.

"Grab has a unique value proposition to solve an important problem in the market. The challenges of the transportation industry remain safety, transparency, pricing, and convenience. We have to build such values to provide suitable services to users. By identifying the problems to solve, we are building the right platform and expanding the ongoing operation," he added.

George Choo, president of the Association of Telecommunications and Technology Industry in Singapore, said, "Singapore is promoting digital government, digital economy, and digital society. The Singaporean government made a commitment to digitalisation by collecting national records, medical records, and personal records. The digital economy covers various areas from manufacturing to services, fintech, smart cities, and digital payments. The digital economy involves Singaporean companies and Singapore-based multinational companies such as Meta, Google, and TikTok."

"Vietnam has 100 million people, and the population is scattered across the country," Choo said, "So the country should consider applying similar initiatives in some major cities initially. Telecommunications companies need to consider financial feasibility and the actual needs of businesses before rolling out 5G and developing related applications."

VIR to host conference on digital economy development VIR will host a conference on digital economy development in Hanoi on September 30, gathering representatives from state management agencies, international organisations, and business experts.

VIR conference highlights factors driving digital economy The VIR conference “Enablers for Digital Economy Development in Vietnam” is taking place in Hanoi on September 30, offering interesting discussions about Vietnam’s economy, market trends, and 5G commercialisation.

A digital infrastructure drive for economic development We are at a pivotal moment in Vietnam’s journey towards digital transformation, alongside many leaders who are driving innovation through technology.