VinFast has been making headlines around the world in the last few months for the right reasons. The Vietnamese carmaker recently confirmed its plans to bring a pair of its electric SUVs to the American market during its debut at the 2021 Los Angeles auto show.

Now, Vinfast is planning to set up a battery factory in the US as well as part of its planned US manufacturing complex. The company hopes to build electric vehicle battery cells and packs. Vinfast has previously said it planned to start producing electric vehicles in the United States in the second half of 2024.

VINFAST BUILDS VIETNAM’S FIRST EV BATTERY FACTORY

Rebecca Oi | 16 December, 2021

Speaking to Reuters, Le Thi Thu Thuy, Vingroup vice-chair and VinFast Global CEO said the new plant will be a Gigafactory. While the company will continue to source batteries from its suppliers, as it will initially assemble battery packs with cells sourced from its supplier at its U.S. complex before starting its own production.

“We have narrowed down from I think, over 50 sites to about three sites,” she said during her U.S. visit to attend the CES 2022 in Las Vegas.

Reuters also reported her saying that the mega-site will also include an electric bus factory. In December, Vingroup has already started construction on a battery cell plant in Vietnam as part of its plan to build its own battery supply chain.

We’re thrilled to introduce our newest range of all-electric vehicles. Each one is designed to make the switch to EV an easy and exciting experience. Explore the benefits of going #EV with VinFast. See disclaimers in reply. https://t.co/OKXqiPe19u #VinFirst #CES2022 pic.twitter.com/heqy92X4EG

— VinFast (@VinFastofficial) January 6, 2022

In fact, battery supply chain issues have already led to delays in the production of several electric vehicle brands around the world. Some of these companies have now chosen to also build their own battery factories to deal with the shortage.

Vinfast is looking to initially produce 100,000 battery packs per year with US$ 174 million of investments and then upgrade its capacity to one million. As Vietnam’s first fully-fledged domestic car manufacturer, Vinfast is also considered the most advanced car manufacturer in the ASEAN region, designing and building better models than other ASEAN car manufacturers.

(Source – VinFast)

Having only hit the streets in 2019, the carmaker began selling electric vehicles in Vietnam at the end of 2021. At CES 2022, Thuy also announced that VinFast will be a fully electric vehicle company in 2022.  With the new announcement, Vinfast hopes it will be able to cater to the growingly competitive electric vehicle market in the US.

Apart from its new battery factory announcement, the car company also announced that it will commence a reservation program for its first two electric vehicle models through blockchain. Blockchain will be used in the process to certify reservations, payments, and eventually vehicle ownership.

Vinfast’s application of blockchain makes it one of the world’s first automakers to put this advanced technology into use. It will first apply blockchain in the reservation process in the US and is looking at the possibilities of using this technology in other markets in the near future.

“VinFast’s Customer-First Philosophy leads us towards providing high-quality products with reasonable pricing and outstanding services as well as offering solutions that inspire global customers to join hands for a more sustainable future for all,” added Thuy.

The post VinFast to build battery factory in US appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Vietnam is not the only country hoping to make a mark in the industry with its electric vehicles. Indian and Korean car manufacturers have also launched electric vehicles in recent months to spur the growth of the vehicles and keep the industry competitive. In fact, China experienced the most electric car sales throughout the Asia Pacific region, in which nearly 1.16 million electric cars were sold in 2020. Comparatively, India only sold 1.6 thousand electric cars in 2020.

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“We are deeply motivated to inspire our customers to be bold and join the revolution to EVs to accelerate solutions that will address this crisis. VinFast believes that the ‘Future of Mobility’ will be one of smart electric cars that are highly personalized and integrated with technologies that benefit life and our environment. These vehicles will do so while meeting safety standards and delivering superior and comfortable driving experiences,” said Michael Lohscheller, CEO of VinFast Global. 

The emerging global electric vehicle company made strategic collaborations with tech companies, innovative startups, and industry partners to produce its latest SUEVs (sport utility electronic vehicles). The Vinfast design teamed up with Mahindra-owned world-renowned design studio Pininfarina, for example, captured “Dynamic Balance” with graceful curves and strong, bold trims alluding to a sense of strength and forward motion in their eye-catching looks. The VF e36 even has “Air Curtains” in the hood and front end to redirect air from high drag areas for added aerodynamics. 

The VF e36 from Vietnamese automaker VinFast is displayed at the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California on November 18, 2021. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

The technology inside the SUEVs is also impressive. Their integrated ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems) features lane assist, collision warning, driver monitoring, fully automated parking, summon vehicle and more. At the same time, their Smart Infotainment system includes a host of functionality such as voice assistant, virtual assistant and e-commerce services. 

VinFast was established in 2017 as a member of Vingroup, a leading private conglomerate in ASEAN with a total capitalization of US$35 billion. It rolled out its first car, the Fadil hatchback, in 2019 from its manufacturing complex, which boasts up to 90% automation in Hai Phong, Vietnam. It began its expansion to the North American and European markets in July this year. The official introduction of the VinFast EV brand followed the announcement of its new US headquarters in Los Angeles, California, the previous day.

 “We are excited to make Los Angeles the permanent home of VinFast US,” said VinFast US CEO Van Anh Nguyen. “California in general and Southern California in particular are rapidly becoming the epicentre of the advanced transportation world thanks to forward-thinking ideas, an abundance of talented workers, and the passion for making transportation electrification a reality.”

VinFast was awarded the largest ever California Competes (CalCompetes) Tax Credit to an automotive company by the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) at $20.5 million. It is also one of the few foreign businesses to be given the CalCompetes tax credit. The automaker invested more than US$200 million in its initial phase and created over 1,000 new, full-time jobs in the state. It intends to hire more than 400 employees within the next several years. It develops its corporate headquarters, regional offices, a call centre, and a network of storefronts as part of its expansion into the American market. 

VinFast Electric Vehicle with smart technologies

VinFast also uses its exhibition platform at the LA Auto Show to inspire consumers to switch to EV with its smart technologies and those developed by members of the Vingroup technological ecosystem: VinAI, Vantix and VinBigData. Some innovations include its AI-powered ADAS called Routix, smart security, traffic and driver monitoring system by VinAI, and autonomous driving verification services by Vantix. 

Earlier this month, it was named one of the investors of Autobrains, developer of first-of-its-kind self-learning intelligence technology for assisted and autonomous driving, led by Singapore-based Temasek.

VinFast now has three EV models and stands out with its exceptional battery leasing policies and dedicated customer care with an industry-leading 10-year warranty. Pre-orders for the new VF e35 and VF e36 SUEVs are expected to be available globally in the first half of 2022.  

The post Vinfast debuts two electric SUVs appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Some would consider Alibaba and Amazon to be the pioneers of the online B2B marketplace. Today, Alibaba and Amazon are the biggest B2B marketplaces in Asia. SMEs have been relying on both these B2B eCommerce sites to not only reach out to customers in the region but globally as well.

China dominates when it comes to e-commerce, especially in B2C businesses, which has grown tremendously as companies focused on better serving a vast base of customers over the past two decades.

THIS STARTUP IS TRANSFORMING VIETNAM’S HEALTHCARE SECTOR THROUGH TECH

Aaron Raj | 21 September, 2021

According to the B2B ECommerce: The Challenges and Opportunities Caused by Digital Acceleration report, total sales on B2B eCommerce sites grew 10% to $1.39 trillion in 2020. Though B2B marketplaces currently make up a modest share of all electronic sales, it appears the B2B industry is heading to an eventual marketplace-dominated distribution model.

Apart from the dominance of Alibaba and Amazon, other B2B eCommerce sites have also emerged around the region to give businesses more choices. For example in India, TradeIndia is the subcontinent’s largest online B2B marketplace with over 20 million monthly visits by both SMEs and large enterprises.

In Southeast Asia, Averest is Malaysia’s B2B eCommerce marketplace for all industries. Averest offers low-end membership packages that are affordable for SMEs. It also helps businesses pick up the exporting potential with a low budget.

Meanwhile, Obbo.sg is Singapore’s largest B2B Marketplace, hosting thousands of small business online fronts with products and services, empowering them with the connectivity tools to do business globally at a few clicks.

Vietnam’s growing B2B eCommerce marketplace

(Photo by Nguyen Hung / AFP)

Despite being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, Vietnam’s businesses suffer from manual and inefficient processes resulting in wasted time and higher costs for both purchasers and suppliers when procuring goods. Additionally, purchasers cannot quickly source products due to the lack of price visibility and transparency.

To deal with this, EI Industrial is the first industrial-focused B2B marketplace in Vietnam that aims to accelerate digital procurement in the country. With eiindustrial.com, purchasers can now easily source from multiple suppliers and identify the best deals available.

EI Industrial also recently received a US$670k seed financing round led by early-stage venture capital firm Cocoon Capital with participation from BEENEXT. The platform currently serves over 500 customers in Vietnam, including global companies such as the Esquel Group, Heineken, Toshiba, Olam, Aqua, Oishi, Wahl, and Central Group. It also works with over 300 sellers to meet the growing procurement demands, including Schneider Electric, Bosch, Honeywell, and 3M.

The funding comes at the right time as Vietnam’s B2B eCommerce market has the highest growth rate in Southeast Asia, reaching USD 13.2bn in 2020, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 43% by 2025. With the funding, EI Industrial plans to build a faster and more user-friendly platform and expand the sales, marketing, and technology teams to drive rapid growth.

“Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world in recent years, and SMEs are the backbone of the economy. My co-founders and I established EI Industrial to realize our dream of developing Vietnam’s core industries via technology. EI Industrial now supports businesses and sellers in improving both their productivity and profit margins”, said Anthony Ho Phi An, Founder & CEO of EI Industrial.

For Michael Blakey, Managing Partner at Cocoon Capital, the Vietnamese market has been waiting for such a solution and EI Industrial addresses a clear need. They have been inspired by the team’s passion, determination, and ability to build a platform that is helping to digitize Vietnam’s businesses.

Since its launch in September 2020, eiindustrial.com has become one of the top 100 companies with the fastest traffic growth internet in Vietnam. With the growing demand for B2B eCommerce services, the industry is only going to get bigger in the years to come.

The post Vietnam’s first industrial, B2B eCommerce marketplace gains momentum appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Med247 is a Vietnamese startup that operates medical apps and care facilities across Vietnam. The company has developed a hybrid platform that combines traditional health models with telemedicine technology via an app for patients and doctors to bring affordable healthcare to all.

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“We believe that if we could scale up the quality services and bring value to our customers, the return could help us to re-invest and continue to grow our services and offers. Health technology sure takes time and effort to grow, but once it scales, there is great potential ahead,” explained Tuan Truong, co-founder, and CEO of Med247.

Truong opines that, as Vietnam’s consumer markets are expected to grow by US$130 billion over the next 10 years, the country is likely to see more unicorns.

As a healthcare technology provider, their ultimate goal is to build a sustainable business that positively impacts the standard of healthcare delivered in Vietnam.

In fact, healthcare technology startups are becoming highly sought after by governments and medical facilities today. This is because these startups can provide solutions that are not only cheaper, but also more easily implemented, as compared to those provided by established enterprises.

Building a healthcare technology startup 

All startups aspire to become unicorns someday. But the journey to becoming one is not as easy as it seems. For most startups, being able to make some success is often encouraging enough to venture on further.

Source – AWS

Southeast Asia continues to see new startups emerging yearly. While some have gone on to become well-established businesses in the region, others are still navigating their way through the competition and challenges in the startup world.

For Truong, leveraging AWS’ expertise and solutions has impacted Med247 in crucial ways.

“AWS has helped us reach out to the Vietnamese citizens through innovative new ways to stay healthy using an affordable and convenient platform. With AWS, we can pivot from primary care to maintaining the wellbeing of modern Vietnamese families; and with machine learning, we can better predict diseases and implement preventive care quickly and accurately,” said Truong.

According to CB Insights, increasing confidence in startups saw US$1.13 billion invested in deals across the Asia Pacific. Innovations by startups, especially those building solutions in health, digital government, smart cities, agriculture, and space technology — are seeing increased demand.

For AWS, removing the barriers for startups is key for them to be successful. As such, they have launched an extension to its AWS Startup Ramp.

Ramp works to remove barriers for entrepreneurs who want to make an impact in the public sector by providing technical design and architecture reviews, mentorship, credits, and support with go-to-market plans to help navigate the complex regulatory and security requirements in the public sector.

“The pandemic has shown the importance of digital transformation in the public sector, and how startups can have an important role in helping governments to deliver on their missions with speed and scale.

“Bringing startups, public sector organizations, and the cloud together allows teams to experiment and test new ideas with technology to more effectively solve citizen problems and be better prepared to respond to disruptive events,” said Peter Moore, regional managing director for the worldwide public sector in the Asia Pacific and Japan at AWS.

Empowering ASEAN

Apart from healthcare technology, startups working in other industries, especially those that involve the public sector, are also slowly building their reach and influence in the region.

For example, Singapore-based SpaceAge Labs is an early-stage technology startup providing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to manage remote assets and operations in the urban water and landscape services industries.

The startup is working with AWS’ IoT and Machine Learning technologies to go to market quickly while delivering solutions that are reliable, secure, and scalable. They were able to leverage the technical expertise and funding support provided by AWS Startup Ramp to grow and scale quickly.

Another Singaporean startup, Graffiquo, a digital twin software and service provider for cities, built the first Integrated Digital Twin System for disaster resiliency for Cauayan City, the Philippines.

The digital twin solution, hosted on AWS Cloud, has helped Cauayan City in its disaster relief operations during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses in November 2020.

(Photo by MARK RALSTON / AFP)

It provided accurate data and estimation of the cost of damage on infrastructures, agricultural lands, statuses of major bridges, flooded areas, and communities.

It was so powerful that the number of evacuated families was accurately calculated in just two days without the need for physical inspection, which, before the institutionalization of the digital twin project, traditionally takes weeks — and even months, at times.

The local city government was able to calculate the number of needed food packs and relief aid to be given to affected households and has guided the executive department to identify optimal budgeting to fix damaged infrastructures.

With that said, startups in the public sector are becoming an integral part of the region’s growing tech ecosystem. Be it healthcare technology or any other industry, with the right guidance, funding, and technology from big tech such as AWS, there is a strong chance that the next startup unicorn may be emerging sooner than expected.

At the same time, with ASEAN governments pushing for greater outputs from startups, the competition will only increase to benefit the public sector.

Vietnam’s emergence as a startup hub in the region is reflective of how the public sector can also benefit by adopting solutions that are not only affordable, but also capable of making an impactful difference to the lives of people.

The post This startup is transforming Vietnam’s healthcare sector through tech appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Facebook told Nikkei Asia that Vietnam, along with neighboring Thailand, are the surprise world leaders when it comes to the use of chat as a means to connect for online commerce, citing data measured by the volume of messages swapped between businesses and customers.

Chat-based digital commerce has been gaining ground in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region for the past several years, mirroring a trend of ‘social commerce’ that has become commonplace in more developed economies around SEA and elsewhere.

Unlike social commerce, where an e-seller livestreams broadcasts of their wares over popular social platforms like Instagram Live or dedicated platforms like Lazada’s LazLive to an audience of potentially thousands, emerging rural economies in SEA have become accustomed to corresponding with e-commerce sellers via chat services such as WhatsApp and WeChat.

Along with Thailand and Indonesia, Vietnam is one of the most important markets for Facebook. Nearly all of Facebook revenue is derived from online advertising, with Vietnam its biggest revenue driver in SEA. And although 62 million out of the country’s 98 million population reside in the countryside, according to the General Statistics Office, online spending is expected to grow more quickly among this segment than their urban neighbors – with spiking smartphone penetration and especially heavy use of video and chat capabilities.

Khoi Le, the head of Vietnam operations for Facebook, told Nikkei Asia that there used to be a misconception that rural users “don’t really use internet well”, but that Facebook’s own survey of 4,500 Vietnamese uncovered that an overwhelming 92% of rural households already use smartphones for playing games, online shopping, and to watch video. Last year, video streaming surpassed television as the predominant form of media in the country, with internet penetration topping television by 91% to 86%.

“It’s also very eye-opening for a lot of our colleagues in the U.S.,” said Le of the burgeoning digital trends in the country. “We actually build a lot of things to be scaled to the global audience. If you’re coming from the U.S. and you see things like this in Vietnam, it’s quite fascinating.”

ALIBABA AND SHOPEE HEADING FOR E-COMMERCE FACEOFF IN VIETNAM

Joe Devanesan | 1 February, 2021

Acutely aware of the evolving consumption habits of its biggest regional market, Facebook will prioritize a variety of video formats to engage users in Vietnam, including livestreaming, TV shows on Facebook Watch, video clips in news feeds, reposts from Facebook-owned Instagram, and disappearing ‘Stories’ short clips.

Facebook’s Le says these video options will live alongside the social giant’s chat functionality to complement e-commerce offerings, whether it be text comments to a live e-tailer during a Facebook livestream, or making inquiries over Facebook Messenger to either a live seller or AI-driven chat bots.

Facebook is still Vietnam’s most popular platform, but for the first time it is seeing serious competition from rivals. Bytedance-owned TikTok has been gaining a foothold in Vietnam, and with its own e-commerce offerings, would like to challenge Facebook dominance with its upstart short videos.

In the first quarter of 2021, Facebook surrendered three percentage points of market share, a first, while TikTok more than doubled its share.

The post What Facebook learned from rural Vietnam about chat-based e-commerce appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

With a population of 1.36 billion people, India is estimated to have over 760 million smartphone users in 2021. While iOS (Apple operating system) devices are available in the subcontinent, Android OS dominates the industry, making up 95.79% of the users. The affordability of Android mobile phones, especially through locally made Indian phone models makes it easier for anyone in the country to own a smartphone today.

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Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing economies in the ASEAN region. With fast growth, increased tech usage has also seen more mobile devices enter the market. There are 61.3 million smartphones in Vietnam, making the country among the top 10 users of smartphones after China, India, Indonesia, and Japan.

As such, the increased penetration of mobile devices also leads to increasing cybersecurity concerns. Mobile devices are vulnerable to cyberattacks and continue to be targeted by cybercriminals, and can be easily affected by malware via apps, emails, and even text messages.

Trojan Android malware invites financial ruin

Android/FakeAdBlocker is an extremely stealthy trojan. Masquerading as an ad blocker for Android mobile devices, it installs adware and possibly other malware when users looking for a legitimate adblocker install them from third-party sites or app stores.

The malware usually hides its launcher icon after the initial launch. Not only does it deliver unwanted scareware or adult-content advertisements, but it also creates spam events for upcoming months in iOS and Android calendars. These ads often cost victims money by sending premium-rate SMS messages, subscribing to unnecessary services, or downloading Android banking trojans, SMS Trojans, and malicious applications. The malware also uses URL shortener services to create links to ads, which in some cases monetize their clicks.

“Based on our telemetry, it appears that many users tend to download Android apps from outside the Google Play store, which might lead them to download malicious apps delivered through aggressive advertising practices that are used to generate revenue for their authors,” explains ESET researcher Lukáš Štefanko, who analyzed Android/FakeAdBlocker.

Commenting on the monetization of the shortened URL links, Lukáš adds, “When someone clicks on such a link, an advertisement will be displayed that will generate revenue for the person who generated the shortened URL. The problem is that some of these link shortener services use aggressive advertising techniques such as scareware ads informing users their devices are infected with dangerous malware.”

The concern is greater for users of Android devices. Scam websites may provide malicious apps to download from outside the Google Play store. For example, the website requests to download an application called “AdBlock,” which has nothing to do with the legitimate application and indeed does the opposite of blocking ads. Instead, a scareware advertisement, or the Android/FakeAdBlocker trojan, is delivered via a URL shortener service.

Top 10 countries with Android/FakeAdBlocker detections (January 1, 2021 – June 1, 2021) Source: ESET Research

Cybercriminals target vulnerable communities

According to McAfee Advanced Threats Research’s Mobile Threat Report 2021, hackers are also using fake apps and hiding malware and malicious links inside fake covid-19 vaccination appointments and registration display ads.

When victims click on these links and ads, they end up having malware downloaded onto their devices. The malware may activate accessibility features to give the hackers full device control, which can allow them to steal banking details and credentials.

In India, McAfee researchers also found evidence of an SMS worm targeting Indian consumers. This is believed to be one of the earliest organized vaccine fraud cyberattack campaigns, where both SMS and Whatsapp messages encouraged users to download a vaccine app. Once downloaded, the malware in the app will continue to display unwanted and fraudulent ads to users and send itself to everyone in the victim’s contact list.

In a large country like India, where access to vaccination is an issue, many are desperate to get appointments, making them particularly susceptible to cyberattacks.

In 2020, Vietnam recorded a US$400 million increase in investments, proving well that the nation could rival Indonesia as Southeast Asia’s growth market for tech investments. As such, cybersecurity is also becoming more important in the country with more businesses increasing their security investment.

While malware like Android/FakeAdBlocker continues to be a growing concern in both these countries, businesses and users can take the necessary steps in securing their devices. Common security practices should be enforced including downloading software from reliable sources only and not simply clicking on links.

The post India and Vietnam most hit by Android malware appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The proposed decree comes two years after the introduction of a cybersecurity law that mandated internet companies remove content the communist authorities regard as “toxic”.

It received sharp criticism from the United States, the European Union, and internet freedom advocates who said it mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet.

Under the terms of the decree, any account that operates on a social media platform in Vietnam and has more than 10,000 followers must provide contact information to authorities — only registered accounts will be allowed to live stream.

The proposed decree also says that social media providers must temporarily block or remove content within 24 hours if they receive a “justified” complaint from an individual or organization affected by the content.

Vietnam is looking to increase control over livestreaming on popular social media platforms. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP)

Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications estimates that Facebook has 65 million Vietnamese members; YouTube 60 million, and TikTok 20 million. The nation’s local social media platform Zalo has 60 million users.

“These cross-border social networks have not fully complied with Vietnamese laws,” it said, adding that current regulations were inadequate.

“Many individuals and organizations take advantage of social media for press activities, and broadcast live streams to provide false information, and insult the reputation and dignity of other organizations and individuals.”

The draft decree is set to take effect after public feedback and approval by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Vietnam’s hardline administration generally moves swiftly to stamp out dissent and arrest critics, especially those who find livestreaming audiences on social media platforms.

Earlier this month, Pham Chi Thanh, a former radio journalist and democracy activist fiercely critical of the regime on Facebook, was imprisoned for five and a half years on the charge of “making, hoarding, disseminating and spreading information and documents against the socialist republic of Vietnam”.

© Agence France-Presse

The post Tighter livestreaming control on social network in Vietnam appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

In 1992, Vietnam was just starting to use 2G network technology. It wasn’t far behind other countries in doing so but by the time 3G and 4G rolled out 8 or so years later, it had begun to lag behind.

Fast forward to May 2019, Vietnam became one of the first countries to successfully establish a 5G-powered phone call. Given Hanoi’s ambitious plans to deploy a 5G network for commercial operations using domestically-developed technology — it was a technological milestone for the country. 

The number of 5G subscriptions in Vietnam is forecast to reach 6.3 million in 2025, according to network equipment maker Cisco. The early rollout of 5G services could help Vietnamese mobile carriers increase revenues by US$300 million a year, starting from 2025. However, they need to invest about US$1.5-2.5 billion in technology during the next five years. 

Vietnam is on track right now to meet its lofty 5G ambitions, but the path ahead includes a myriad of obstacles in technology, national security, and governance.

The official frequency planning announced by the country’s Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) on August 20 this year is considered a giant step forward in Vietnam’s 5G development roadmap. 

The ministry permitted Viettel and MobiFone to launch the commercial pilot of 5G technology until mid-2021. The former carrier is allowed to pilot 5G services at no more than 140 locations in Hanoi. The latter will carry out this pilot in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) at up to a maximum of 50 Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs).

These pilot schemes are used to evaluate the potential of the market and the stability of 5G equipment before formal commercialization. Participants in these pilots are selected subscribers of Viettel and MobiFone with provided telecoms codes.

Accordingly, Viettel is allowed to test a commercial 5G network in Hanoi with a scale not exceeding 140 stations. The firm will be entitled to use planned frequency bands, including the 2,500 – 2,600 MHz, 3,700 – 3,800 MHz, and 27,100 – 27,500 MHz bands for 5G commercial testing. Viettel, which claimed to have developed its own 5G radio network base stations, announced in January that it planned to roll out commercial 5G mobile services in June. The firms claimed Nokia equipment instead of China’s Huawei during the trial.

MobiFone, meanwhile, was licensed to test at the 2,600 MHz bands with no more than 50 stations in Ho Chi Minh City. However, both Viettel and MobiFone have not yet announced their detailed testing plans. Their trial license is valid until June 30, 2021.

Progress and problems

Prior to these commercial pilots, many Vietnamese mobile carriers like Viettel, MobiFone, VinaPhone have finished the technical test of the 5G tech, making Vietnam one of the earliest countries to successfully pilot 5G in the world. Results show that along with the 10-time-faster speed, 5G’s latency is only one-fifth of 4G’s. 

To put things in context, Vietnam’s advanced mobile networks reach about 96% of the population, providing 51.2 million users with 3G coverage and 13 million with 4G. Viettel holds a 51.5% share of the broadband market, followed by VNPT with 28.4%, MobiFone with 12.7%, and FPT Telecom with 3.8%.

Last month, the Minister of Information and Communications Hung during a question and answer at the National Assembly in Hanoi said Vietnam’s progress was “not slow” or out of line with the international speed when asked about the progress of the national 5G network.

He also said the deployment of 5G in Vietnam would make use of about 70% of the existing 4G infrastructure – including base transceiver stations, antennas, and other transmission equipment – translating to sizeable cost-saving. According to the government, the rollout of 5G will start first in major urban areas, which will be followed by industrial parks, research zones, and universities to aid innovation and creation of new technologies, the minister added.

Among predicted difficulties, include high device and service cost, a selection limit of 5G-supported terminals, and narrow network coverage. In addition, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the pilot schemes in Vietnam could not be carried out as fully as wished, let alone the trouble in communication between regions and transport of necessary equipment.

Hung, however, said he was confident that 5G equipment and devices to be used by telecommunications and mobile operators will be fully Vietnamese-made, of high technology, and come at more affordable prices than imported versions.

The government is also working on new national technical regulations for terminal devices of terrestrial mobile communication, which will require that all portable data terminals (PDTs) made in, sold, or purchased in Vietnam will have to support 4G and 5G technologies. This also means phones that only support 2G and 3G networks might no longer be manufactured in Vietnam or imported into the country when the new regulation comes into effect as an effort to phase out these older technologies, Hung said.

VIETNAM HAS BECOME A DIGITAL NATION — IN JUST 3 YEARS

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The regulation is expected to be issued this month and take effect from July 2021.

A recent report by mobile industry specialist GSMA Intelligence found Vietnam standing out as a ‘digital progressive’ in APAC.

In just three years, after decades in the digital wilderness, the traditionally agrarian market has undergone a rapid digital transformation driven by “improvements to the digital identity, digital citizenship, and digital lifestyle components.”

Vietnam now sees digital transformation as the key to boosting its economy. GSMA noted that the Vietnamese government has been pursuing a national Industry 4.0 strategy that includes infrastructure and human resources, along with e-government services and innovation initiatives like an e-commerce transformation plan that is expected to grow online businesses by up to 43% within the next five years.

The post Vietnam is ahead of the game with commercial 5G appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Among a study of 11 markets across APAC, Vietnam is standing out as a digital progressive.

Mobile industry specialists GSMA Intelligence surveyed government agencies, mobile operators, and other digital ecosystem players in Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam to fashion the report.

The study found Vietnam sporting the most improved scores among all nations covered, up by 12 points between 2016 and 2019. GSMA attributes this turnaround to boosts to connectivity, owed to the launch and rapid expansion of 4G networks.

In just three years, after decades in the digital wilderness, the traditionally agrarian market has undergone a rapid digital transformation driven by “improvements to the digital identity, digital citizenship, and digital lifestyle components.”

Vietnam now sees digital transformation as the key to boosting its economy. GSMA noted that the Vietnamese government has been pursuing a national Industry 4.0 strategy that includes infrastructure and human resources, along with e-government services and innovation initiatives like an e-commerce transformation plan that is expected to grow online businesses by up to 43% within the next five years.

Digital payments and electric vehicles have also sprouted up in a short period of time in the mostly-landlocked Southeast Asian state, exhibiting a phenomenal growth rate in tech-driven opportunities. But the GSMA report warns that there are still challenges that are impeding further progress, “particularly in the digital commerce component and with regard to policies to support innovative startups.”

Additionally, take-up of 5G mobile technology is expected to make up just 5% of wireless connections in Vietnam by 2025, well below the APAC average of 23%. The most “advanced” economies cited in the study were South Korea, followed by Singapore, Australia, and Japan.

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The report also highlights that the gap between digital economies in APAC has “narrowed moderately” in recent years, classifying Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia as “transition” digital societies, while Pakistan and Bangladesh are viewed as “emerging”.

“That said, the gap remains significant,” the GSMA summarized. “This underscores the need for countries in the emerging category to do more to accelerate progress.”

The post Vietnam has become a digital nation — in just 3 years appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Interesting developments are circling around 5G in Vietnam, where despite there being no commercially-available 5G network in the country, local tech entities like VinSmart are eyeing international distribution of their 5G-capable products.

Established in administrative capital Hanoi around two years ago, VinSmart is the technology subsidiary of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup JSC that became the first manufacturer of 5G smartphones in Vietnam.

The company has inked a deal to export 1.5 to 2 million units of its 5G smartphone to the US under outsourcing contracts starting this year. While VinSmart will focus on its North American distribution over the next five years, its vice chairwoman Le Thi Thu Thuy says it’s also looking at bringing 5G equipment to the Vietnamese market in 2021.

“Once the 5G network reaches a wide coverage in Vietnam, we would already have the capacity to well serve the local market,” Thuy said. “5G is an opportunity for a new player like VinSmart to be on par with the world’s manufacturers.”

Thuy made the comments at a recent press conference in Hanoi held by VinSmart and Qualcomm, when she also said that parent organization Vingroup had invested tens of millions of US dollars to develop research and development labs, production lines, and to employ local talents.

Proud to collaborate with #VinSmart to enable advanced 3G/#4G/#5G mobile devices and services powered by @Qualcomm. A landmark day indeed… Look out for some amazing devices soon. pic.twitter.com/1WKHc4sCvP

— Jim Cathey (@jimcathey) December 14, 2018

VinSmart invested deeply to secure Qualcomm patent licensing agreements and leveraged its connection with the chipmaker to develop, produce, and sell its 4G and 5G smartphones to the US market. After releasing 13 smartphone models based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile platforms in Vietnam, Spain, Russia, and Myanmar, VinSmart launched its first 5G-enabled smartphones, the VinSmart Aris series, this past July.

Besides smartphones, Qualcomm has also worked with VinSmart in developing 5G product categories such as MiFi (mobile WiFi routers), Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), Wi-Fi 6 Smart Home, AI Edge and Camera, and 5G laptops for both the Vietnamese and international markets.

“One of Qualcomm’s most important goals is to bring ‘Made in Vietnam’ products to the world,” said Nam Thieu, country director for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia at Qualcomm. “We are working to expand 5G technology not only in the smartphone industry but also in distance learning, healthcare, internet of things [IoT], and smart manufacturing in the country.”

In June, Qualcomm opened its first R&D facility in Southeast Asia in Hanoi, targetting to develop wireless technologies, IoT applications, and to supply testing services to local manufacturing partners. Besides VinSmart, its other partners include the local tech firms Bkav, Viettel, and VNPT.

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Without a commercial 5G market in Vietnam, Qualcomm and VinSmart have been utilizing a lab 5G environment to ensure the devices are compatible with global network carriers. “VinSmart’s first 5G-enabled smartphone produced in Vietnam is evidence of Vingroup’s capacity to research and develop 5G terminal devices, making it ready for the transformation of the telecoms infrastructure in the country,” said Qualcomm’s Nam.

Qualcomm expects 5G to boost local digital transformation efforts and to enhance smart manufacturing which accounts for 17% of the country’s current GDP.

Last year, fellow Qualcomm partner Viettel was the first Vietnamese telco to complete a 5G network trial, followed by competitors VNPT Vinaphone and Mobiphone. All three carriers hope to have commercial 5G networks up and running in 2021.

The post ‘Made in Vietnam’ — VinSmart going global with 5G gear appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.