Vietnam intends to invest in two to four additional international telecommunications cables with a data capacity of 60 Tbps by 2025.
The new cables, which are outlined in a 2021-2030 information and communication infrastructure development plan, will ensure that the telecommunications network is fast and wide-ranging, serving the purposes of digital transformation, digital economy, digital government, and national defense.
Enhancing Total Data Capacity
According to the government-approved plan announced by the Ministry of Information and Communications, one of the requirements for achieving such goals is the construction of two to four additional international cables.
Prioritized locations for connecting the new cables to the land include areas with existing stations, as well as connections to Vietnam's major islands and island districts. Existing land cables will be maintained and upgraded. According to the plan, the total data capacity of the international connections between Vietnam's land and sea cables should reach 60 Tbps by 2025.
These infrastructures are anticipated to share the burden with the current international cables, guarantee internet access for users, and enhance network security in addition to enabling high-speed data transference between Vietnam and the rest of the world.
All-Access Fiber Connections
By 2025, all Vietnamese families will have access to fiber connections, 90% of users will have fixed internet connections at 200 Mbps, and 90% of socioeconomic organizations will have 1 Gbps Internet connection. Mobile internet download speeds will be a minimum of 40 Mbps for 4G networks and 100 Mbps for 5G networks. Furthermore, all adults will have smartphones.
Vietnam currently has five undersea cables connecting to the entire world, with a total capacity of 18.7 Tbps, but connections are frequently disrupted. These include the Asia-America Gateway (AAG), the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG), Intra Asia (IA), Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 3 (SEA-ME-WE 3), and Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1). However, in January of last year, issues on all five cables resulted in a 75% loss of capacity, impeding user connections. Thus, the investment of two to four additional international telecommunications cables with a data capacity of 60 Tbps is paramount to achieve all-access connectivity by 2025.
