US tech groups hope for sharing access

Businesses want improved technical standards to entice them further. Photo: Le Toan

Trieu Minh Long, head of the Ministry of Information and Communications’ (MIC) International Cooperation Department, said that Vietnam is studying and completing regulations guiding 5G standards, deemed urgent to address equipment, network, infrastructure, service quality, and cybersecurity issues.

Networks, infrastructure, and cybersecurity are among the strong interests of US technology firms in Vietnam, with specifics focused on 5G applications, solutions to meet growing demands in cybersecurity and open market acceleration, and also Vietnam-US trade and investment cooperation.

At a conference held in early September between the MIC and the US Trade and Development Agency about 5G standards, Vietnamese telecoms giants like MobiFone and BKAV as well as leading powerful US technology titans such as Qualcomm, Intel Palo Alto Networks, Oracle, and Mavenir discussed the possibilities of boosting Vietnam-US investment cooperation in digital transformation.

According to Alex Orange, a representative of Qualcomm, the 5G market by 2030 could reach $30 trillion. Therefore, Vietnam should study the fields of related applications as Vietnam’s economy is now still driven by agriculture and mining. In fact, it will be the foundation for precision agriculture, or acceleration of digital transformation in the fields of education, healthcare, telehealth, logistics, and smart manufacturing, among others.

At present in smart manufacturing, robotics is being used to replace humans in dangerous operations. Therefore the Internet of Things (IoT), VR, and 5G will be decisive factors for an increase in productivity and efficiency in factories.

Regarding the management and usage mechanism of bandwidth, Jayne Stancavage from Intel said that with flexible mechanisms, the Federal Communications Commission, an independent comms regulation agency of the US government, can bring out regulations on technical issues, licensing, and creating frameworks to shares with the community to reduce technical barriers.

“The process of building technical standards has the participation of businesses, thus facilitating them to bring their services to the market,” the representative added.

Experts said that the issues are important for global tech firms to boost operations here. Once regulations on 5G standards are completed, problems related to speed and bandwidth will be dealt with, thus enabling businesses to expand activities.

US technology giants are expanding rapidly in Vietnam. For instance, this week Amazon Web Services (AWS) is set to launch the AWS Public Sector Startup Ramp – an acceleration programme for startups that are building innovative solutions for public sector industries such as government services, healthcare, smart cities, and utilities, with startups in Vietnam also able to benefit from it.

This move shows AWS’ ambition to target the startup ecosystem in Vietnam and globally in the context that governments are crafting supporting policies for startups to develop and to venture further into public sector industries.

In addition to this, AWS is more present in Vietnam, where more local companies are using its cloud services to accelerate their digital transformation. Phu Nhuan Jewellery JSC, the largest jewellery brand in Vietnam, has announced it would use AWS Cloud services to increase business efficiency and achieve future targets.

Likewise, VMware software powering the world’s complex digital infrastructure is extending its Telco Cloud Platform to also include the radio access network. The 5G Telco Cloud Platform empowers communication service providers to better meet the growing demand for 5G-powered innovations in Vietnam.

Pham Viet Thang, country manager of VMware Vietnam, told VIR, “VMware has been working with industry partners and standards bodies in building an open eco-system for 5G. We continue to invest in driving innovation in open and cost-optimised 5G solutions.”

Similarly, Keysight Technologies is continuously partnering with stakeholders in Vietnam’s 5G ecosystem, from mobile operators, manufacturers, and test houses to system integrators and universities, to help the country move forward with 5G adoption and accelerate national digital transformation.

Elsewhere, and in anticipation of the huge growth potential of the local digital market, Qualcomm in mid-2020 set up the first regional research and development facility in Hanoi, aiming to develop wireless technologies and IoT and provide testing services to manufacturing partners.