Bringing Vietnam’s digital infrastructure up to par with developed countries by 2026.

On January 10, the Postal and Telecommunications Sector under the Ministry of Science and Technology held a conference to implement its 2026 work program. The sector's units include the Authority of Radio Frequency Management, the Central Post Office Department, the Authority of Telecommunications, the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC), the Department of Postal Services, and the Vietnam Public-Utility Telecommunications Service Fund (VTF).

The Postal and Telecommunications Sector serves as foundational infrastructure, bearing a particularly important responsibility for ensuring seamless, safe and secure communications for the leadership, direction and administration of the Party and the State under all circumstances; ensuring digital infrastructure and postal-logistics infrastructure to support the operation of the new government model, especially at the grassroots level; and serving as an important foundation for the development of the digital economy, digital society and digital government.

2025, a breakthrough year for Vietnam's digital infrastructure

Presenting the summary report of the Postal and Telecommunications Sector for the 2020 - 2025 term, Mr. Le Van Tuan – Director General of the Authority of Radio Frequency Management – described “2025 as a breakthrough year for Vietnam's digital infrastructure, in terms of speed, scale and coverage.”

This is reflected in several figures. Fixed broadband Internet reached a speed of 280 Mbps, 1.7 times higher than in 2024, ranking 11th globally and rising 49 places compared with the beginning of the term; mobile broadband Internet reached 160 Mbps, twice the 2024 level, ranking 17th globally.

 

Mr. Le Van Tuan – Director General of the Authority of Radio Frequency Management – presented the summary report of the Postal and Telecommunications Sector at the conference on the afternoon of January 10. Photo: Luu Quy

4G infrastructure now covers 99.48% of the population, while 5G coverage increased from 0.93% in 2023 to 90.2% in 2025, with the number of 5G stations rising from 184 to more than 35,000. In particular, last year, Vietnam was recognized by Gartner as one of the first five countries to manufacture 5G equipment.

In the field of radio frequency management, two successful auctions were held in 2025, triggering remarkable growth in mobile broadband speeds in Vietnam. The establishment of timelines for shutting down 2G and 3G networks and the discontinuation of 2G marked a major milestone, transitioning from voice-oriented infrastructure to data infrastructure. An additional 500 MHz was allocated, increasing Wi-Fi bandwidth by 75% and improving broadband Internet access for citizens.

Regarding resource development and Internet infrastructure, Vietnam currently manages more than 16 million IPv4 addresses, with 917 ASNs and 1,174 members, ranking second in ASEAN; the IPv6 deployment rate has reached 67.68%, ranking 7th globally. The .vn domain name has surpassed 683,000 registrations, ranking third in ASEAN, with annual growth of 3-6%.

At the same time, the iSpeed Internet speed measurement system developed by VNNIC currently collects 2.3 million measurement samples per month, an increase of 230% compared with 2023, with 1.3 million application installations. The data is standardized, analyzed and published down to the commune/ward level,

“Overall, the national Internet infrastructure has reached technical maturity and is ready to enter the next phase of optimization, automation and IPv6 Only,” Mr. Le Van Tuan said.

For the KT1 postal network, the entire KT1 mail process, from receipt, processing and transportation to delivery at the commune level, has been digitized and monitored online, ensuring seamless, accurate and absolutely secure operations under all circumstances.

The postal sector during the 2020 – 2025 period recorded rapid and stable development, with average annual revenue growth of 18.6%, average annual growth in postal item volume of 31.5%, revenue reaching VND 87 trillion, and postal item volume reaching 4.2 billion.

Public postal services play an important role in implementing end-to-end online public services by supporting the delivery and receipt of administrative procedure dossiers and results, thereby helping reduce social costs. Each year, approximately 18-20 million administrative procedure dossiers are sent through public postal services.

During the same period, the Vietnam Public-Utility Telecommunications Service Fund supported approximately 1.9 million digital television receiver sets for poor and near-poor households; coordinated with telecommunications enterprises to build more than 1,800 BTS stations providing terrestrial mobile telecommunications services and 1,755 fixed terrestrial broadband Internet access points in particularly disadvantaged areas.

Creating modern digital infrastructure for development in 2026 – 2030

Regarding several key tasks for the coming period, Mr. Le Van Tuan said that the 2026 – 2030 period would be a period in which telecommunications would drive the development of modern digital infrastructure, developing ultra-broadband, ultra-high-capacity and ubiquitous digital infrastructure.

 

The Authority of Telecommunications aims to achieve 99% 5G population coverage in Vietnam in 2026. Photo: Viettel

In 2026, the Authority of Telecommunications aims to bring Vietnam's digital infrastructure to the level of advanced countries: mobile speeds reaching 170 Mbps, fixed broadband speeds reaching 300 Mbps, 5G coverage reaching 99% of the population, and 40% of people able to access 1Gbps broadband. The Authority will also complete the development of two digital platforms for monitoring and assessing coverage and competitive behavior of enterprises in the market, while reviewing and restructuring its organizational model toward becoming the national digital infrastructure regulatory authority.

For the Authority of Radio Frequency Management, in 2026, the Authority will organize auctions for the 900MHz band and the remaining portion of the 3.5 GHz band in accordance with market conditions; research frequency allocation for unmanned aerial vehicles to serve the near-border economy. During 2026 – 2030, the Authority will transform the operations of regional frequency centers from a rigid model to a flexible 1-1-3 model (one unified force – one operating center – three areas of flexibility in tasks, personnel and equipment) operated on a shared platform.

The Vietnam Internet Network Information Center will focus on developing the Internet ecosystem associated with the national .VN domain name, with a target of reaching 1 million domain names in 2026 and 1.2 million by 2030; ensuring the safe and stable operation of critical systems, with the goal that 100% of VNNIC's technical systems and services are operated safely and stably; achieving an IPv6 rate of 72-74%, reaching 90-100% in 20230, making Vietnam a leading model in the region and the world in the development of next-generation Internet and industrial Internet.

The Central Post Office Department aims to build shared digital infrastructure and specialized digital infrastructure serving the entire political system, with three key pillars: specialized people and organizations; comprehensive digital transformation to create specialized services and value; and the development of modern, specialized, unified and shared information infrastructure.

In the postal sector, the key tasks for 2026 comprise three groups: completing the legal framework and finalizing the replacement Postal Law for submission to the National Assembly; modernizing and sharing public postal network infrastructure to improve the efficiency of operating and utilizing the public postal network; simplifying administrative procedures, carrying out digital transformation and green transformation, testing new technologies in the postal sector, and piloting the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous robots for delivery.

The Vietnam Public-Utility Telecommunications Service Fund, under the direction of “Extending digital infrastructure, bringing digital transformation to every home,” will support telecommunications enterprises in providing public-utility telecommunications services; support 1 million smartphones for poor and near-poor households; carry out comprehensive digital transformation of its operations; and support the use of public-utility telecommunications services at a scale similar to the 2021 – 2025 period.