Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam will enhanceits telecommunications infrastructure, expand its broadband network and develop5G mobile connectivity this year.

The latter is a key component of the Government’sResolution 01, in which the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)will grant test 5G frequencies to operators this year and expand them in 2020.

Head of the Policy and Planning Division under theMinistry of Information and Communications’ Authority of Communications Tran TuanAnh said Vietnam defined 5G as network infrastructure for all sectors of the economy,not just for communication. It would be expanded, raising the working capacityof all sectors based on radiocommunication infrastructure.

Under the vision of Qualcomm, Nokia, Samsung andother companies developing 5G services and technology, the 5G mobile networkwill boost self-driving cars, IoT and cloud computing.

Anh told enternews.vn that there werecurrently very few terminals supporting 5G networks, so this technology did notyet have the capability to reach everyone. With the needs of users today, 4Gstill met their demands.

“The implementation of 5G in Vietnam will dependon the role of network operators and ICT enterprises. Vietnam also needs tobuild research centres on technology for 5G, in addition to corresponding legaldocuments,” Anh said.

Worldwide, there are 18 5G networks deployed bymore than 20 suppliers. There are also 134 5G networks being tested in 62countries around the world. By 2019, the world will officially adopt 5Gstandard at the World Radiocommunication Conference of the ITU, a specialisedUN agency for information and communication technologies.

The Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Groupis aggressively completing work to prepare infrastructure and human resourcesfor 5G technology with the expectation of becoming the first operator in Vietnamto deploy a 5G network.

With a number of positive results in preparing 5G,Viettel aims to complete a 5G broadcasting station version 1 in 2019, test 5Gstation network by 2020 and be ready to trade in 2021.

Viettel Deputy General Director Cao Duc Thang saidViettel was ready to participate in the 5G test in 2019.

“We hope that there will be information onfrequencies soon for Viettel and other operators to prepare appropriate designand equipment, in order to meet the frequency that the MIC is expected to usefor 5G,” said Thang.

In an interview with ictnews.vn, CEO ofHuawei Vietnam Fan Jun said that Vietnam was the most dynamic emerging marketin Southeast Asia.

He said the Prime Minister and Minister of MIC hadrepeatedly mentioned the development of 5G in Vietnam, and Vietnamese operatorswere willing to test 5G.

He said the realisation of 5G required four basicconditions including national industry policy, frequency planning, preparationof application infrastructure and training of talents.

These four basic conditions are indispensable.Different areas will have different difficulties and challenges, thus it’snecessary to have the participation of many parties working together, he added.

In this regard, Jun said his firm was ready tostrengthen dialogue with the Government and other network operators andpartners related to 5G to promote the development of the technology in Vietnam.-VNS/VNA