VNExpress-July 29
Nine out of ten Vietnamese people have a mobile broadband subscription, and most are smartphone users, marking a significant milestone in the country’s digital connectivity. The current internet usage rate in Vietnam is estimated to reach 78.1%, and the number of subscriptions for both fixed and mobile broadband has increased significantly, the Ministry of Information and Communications announced at a conference on internet usage in the first six months of the year on Monday. Specifically, mobile broadband subscriptions increased by 7.6% compared to the same period in 2023, reaching an average of 91.9 per 100 people. This marks the first time ever that this rate has surpassed 90%, exceeding the ministry’s target of 87.5% for 2024. Meanwhile, among the 120 million mobile subscriptions in Vietnam, 100.7 million are smartphone users, an increase of 0.1% compared to the same period last year. Regarding fixed broadband, the number of subscriptions reached 23.5 per 100 people, an increase of 6.8%, achieving 96% of the annual plan. Among these, the percentage of households using fiber-optic cables is 82.2%. However, the number of people who have not used Internet infrastructure remains “relatively large.” At a discussion about shutting down 2G services hosted by the ministry’s Telecommunications Authority on July 18, the authority stated that there are still about 11 million subscribers using 2G-only phones, which means they only operate on the 2G network and have not yet accessed mobile broadband. The regulatory agency, network providers, and phone retailers are implementing measures to popularize 4G devices before the 2G shutdown deadline on September 15, as per an official plan that has been announced. Read more at: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/mobile-internet-subscriptions-in-vietnam-surpass-90-of-population-for-first-time-4775342.html
