Prohibited Acts in Telecommunications Activities from July 1, 2024, according to the Telecommunications Law 2023
What are the prohibited acts in telecommunications activities from July 1, 2024, according to the Telecommunications Law 2023?
Pursuant to Article 9 of the Telecommunications Law 2023, there are 05 prohibited acts in telecommunications activities as follows:
- Exploiting telecommunications activities to oppose the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; infringing upon national security, public order, and social safety, causing damage to the interests of the State, and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations, individuals.
- Eavesdropping, intercepting, viewing unauthorized information on the telecommunications network; stealing, unauthorized use of telecommunications resources, passwords, encryption keys, and private information of organizations, individuals.
- Illegally obstructing the establishment of telecommunications infrastructure, causing disturbances, sabotaging the establishment of telecommunications infrastructure, and the lawful provision and use of telecommunications services.
- Establishing telecommunications infrastructure, providing telecommunications services without permission as stipulated by this Law.
- Using equipment, software to send, transmit, receive information over the telecommunications network to commit acts that violate the law.
What are the prohibited acts in telecommunications activities from July 1, 2024, according to the Telecommunications Law 2023?
What are the rights and obligations of telecommunications enterprises?
Pursuant to the regulations in Article 13 of the Telecommunications Law 2023, telecommunications enterprises have the following rights and obligations:
(1) For enterprises providing services without network infrastructure:
Rights:
- To build, install, own telecommunication equipment systems, and transmission lines within their premises and public service points to provide telecommunications services to telecommunications service users;
- To lease transmission lines to connect their telecommunications equipment systems, premises, public service points with each other and with the public telecommunications network of other telecommunications enterprises;
- To lease transmission lines or purchase traffic, telecommunications services from other telecommunications enterprises to resell to telecommunications service users;
- To sublease the telecommunications infrastructure that they have leased if agreed by the telecommunications infrastructure leasing enterprise;
- To be allocated telecommunications resources in accordance with this Law on telecommunications resource management;
- To research, develop, and trial new technologies and models in telecommunications activities;
- Other rights in accordance with the Law on Enterprises and other relevant legal provisions.
Obligations:
- To contribute financially to the Vietnam Public Utility Telecommunication Service Fund as prescribed by law;
- To be responsible for the quality of services according to registered or announced standards; ensure accurate, complete, and precise service pricing according to the supply and use contracts of telecommunications services;
- To be subject to the control of competent state agencies and comply with regulations to ensure telecommunications infrastructure safety and information security;
- To submit periodic or ad-hoc reports on telecommunications activities of the enterprise as required by the Minister of Information and Communications; to be responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of the report contents and data;
- To take measures to block connections, Internet addresses, domain names, and other measures to block telecommunications equipment systems, telecommunications services, and telecommunications application services used for conducts prescribed in Clause 1, Article 9 of the Telecommunications Law 2023 when requested in writing by competent state agencies in accordance with the law;
- To have plans ready to technically connect for reporting data electronically that meet state management requirements on telecommunication as directed by the Minister of Information and Communications;
- To fulfill requests from competent state agencies on mobilizing part or all of the telecommunications infrastructure, telecommunications services in emergency situations in accordance with the laws on defense, national security, and emergency situations;
- To ensure that telecommunications subscribers can retain their telecommunications numbers when changing telecommunications service providers within the same type of telecommunications services;
- To provide services to telecommunications service users with full and matching subscriber information with the information on the presented identification documents as stipulated by law;
- To authenticate, store, use subscriber information, and handle SIM cards with incomplete or incorrect subscriber information;
- To prevent, combat, and block violating messages and calls according to regulations by the Government of Vietnam;
- To terminate telecommunications services to subscribers violating telecommunication laws;
- Other obligations in accordance with the Law on Enterprises 2020 and other relevant legal provisions.
(2) Enterprises providing services with network infrastructure:
Rights:
- Rights as enterprises providing services without network infrastructure;
- To be prioritized to use space, land, underground, riverbeds, seabeds, public-purpose land to build telecommunications infrastructure according to planning, standards, regulations, and relevant legal provisions;
- To lease telecommunications infrastructure to other telecommunications enterprises;
- To participate in providing public utility telecommunications services.
Obligations:
- Obligations as enterprises providing services without network infrastructure;
- To lease passive telecommunications infrastructure to other telecommunications enterprises when appropriate with the passive telecommunications infrastructure planning and economically, and technically feasible;
- To dismantle, remove owned or managed telecommunications works that are deemed dangerous, not ensuring safety for operation and usage as per the construction law;
- To place underground, rearrange telecommunications cables.
Do telecommunications service providers need a business license to provide telecommunications services?
Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 20 of the Telecommunications Law 2023, it is stipulated as follows:
Provision of telecommunications services
1. Telecommunications service providers must have a telecommunications service business license or register, notify the provision of telecommunications services, except for cases provided in Article 42 of this Law.
Thus, based on the above regulations, telecommunications service providers must have a telecommunications service business license or register, notify the provision of telecommunications services unless organizations, individuals conducting telecommunications activities are exempt from telecommunications licenses or the need to register, notify the provision of telecommunications services in the following cases:
- Trading telecommunications goods;
- Providing telecommunications services in the form of telecommunications service agents;
- Leasing transmission lines to provide telecommunications application services;
- Private telecommunications networks where the network members belong to the same organization and do not independently establish telecommunications transmission lines.
Telecommunications Law 2023 takes effect from July 1, 2024, except for cases provided in Clauses 3, 4, Article 72 of the Telecommunications Law 2023.
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