Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng has authorised a plan to drastically improve the country’s broadband infrastructure by 2020.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng has authorised a plan to drastically improve the country’s broadband infrastructure by 2020.
Mobile is at the heart of the project, with Vietnam wanting a minimum of 95% of residential areas covered by 3G or 4G networks, with speeds of 4 Mbps in urban areas and 2 Mbps in rural areas, according to a Viet Nam News report.
Within four years the plan envisages at least 40% of households will be connected to a fixed broadband network, while overall 60% of internet users would have a downlink speed of a minimum 25 Mbps.
Viettel is the country’s number three one cellco, followed by Mobifone and Vinaphone. Together, the three operators – all state-owned – have a 90% market share, with the remaining 10% shared by a clutch of smaller players. Vietnam, which according to the World Bank had a population of 90 million as of 2013, has more than 100% mobile penetration.
Vietnam is considering privatising Mobifone this year.