Vietnam to stop 2G services in 2024 for 5G services development

September 2024 is the right time as it marks the termination of the license for mobile telecommunications services and the license for radio frequency bands to be consistent with the orientation of radio frequency planning, the Telecommunications Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications explained in a statement.

The ministry requested mobile service providers deploy solutions to encourage subscribers to use 4G / 5G services, striving to reduce the number of 2G subscribers to less than 5% by the end of 2023.

It will take measures in 2023 to ensure every citizen owns one smartphone in order to achieve the common goal of turning off 2G services and speeding up national digital transformation.

The ministry will also support businesses to stop 2G mobile technology according to the roadmap, increase 4G coverage and deploy 5G services. It will enhance the quality of 4G coverage and improve the quality of 5G services.

Although the number of smartphone users has begun to increase sharply in the past few years, the number of feature phone users is still relatively large, at 11.7 million.

Vietnam has deployed 5G services on a trial basis in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang.