03 regulations on telecommunications wholesaling in Vietnam

03 regulations on telecommunications wholesaling in Vietnam (Image from the internet)

On July 10, 2024, the Minister of Information and Communications (Hanoi, Vietnam) issued Circular 08/2024/TT-BTTTT guiding telecommunications wholesaling. It takes effect in Vietnam from August 23, 2024.

03 regulations on telecommunications wholesaling in Vietnam

(1) Regarding telecommunications wholesaling in Vietnam

According to Article 4 of Circular 08/2024/TT-BTTTT, regulations on telecommunications wholesaling in Vietnam are as follows:

- Ensure service provision with fair, reasonable pricing and related conditions without discrimination as follows:

+ Fairness in pricing, terms, and conditions of services when providing wholesale services.

+ No discrimination among independent accounting units within the enterprise, subsidiaries of the enterprise, business partners of the enterprise, and other wholesale buyers.

+ The selling price, conditions, and service terms must be reasonably constructed based on factors: cost of service provision; quantity, quality, scope, method, duration, and location of services provided; payment terms, service package usage duration as stipulated in the contract; exclusivity, technology, customer segmentation.

- Transparency of information on pricing, telecommunications standards, technical regulations, network quality, and telecommunications services as follows:

+ Implement procedures for price declaration and publicly listing service provision prices according to legal regulations on pricing;

+ Transparency of information on telecommunications standards, technical regulations, network quality, service quality, as well as specific terms and conditions for the provision and use of services;

+ Transparency of the Service Provision Agreement when participating in wholesale telecommunications activities (hereinafter referred to as the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement according to the provisions of Articles 5 and 6 of Circular 08/2024/TT-BTTTT).

(2) On publicizing the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement in Vietnam

Article 5 of Circular 08/2024/TT-BTTTT stipulates the publicizing of the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement in telecommunications as follows:

- Within 30 days from the date of signing the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement with a wholesale enterprise for telecommunications services under the List of telecommunications service markets managed by the State, the wholesale enterprise identified as the dominant market telecommunications enterprise must develop and publicize the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement.

- Telecommunications enterprises that are not the dominant market telecommunications enterprises may self-establish the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement based on compliance with Article 4 of Circular 08/2024/TT-BTTTT.

In case a telecommunications enterprise that is not the dominant market telecommunications enterprise cannot achieve a Wholesale Service Provision Agreement with a wholesale buyer, the enterprise is responsible for developing the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement and publicizing the content according to Clause 1, Article 5 of Circular 08/2024/TT-BTTTT.

- The Wholesale Service Provision Agreement must include at least the contents stipulated in Clause 2, Article 6 of Circular 08/2024/TT-BTTTT.

- In case it is necessary to supplement or amend the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement, the wholesale enterprise shall re-publicize the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement following Clauses 1, 2, and 3, Article 5 of Circular 08/2024/TT-BTTTT.

(3) Content of the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement

According to Article 6 of Circular 08/2024/TT-BTTTT, the content of the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement is stipulated as follows:

- The Wholesale Service Provision Agreement must:

+ Be made in writing and include full details on price, service quality standards, and other terms and conditions that the wholesale enterprise is willing to provide to any wholesale buyer that wishes to agree.

+ Be clearly, consistently, and specifically written according to the corresponding service name to ensure that the wholesale buyer only purchases wholesale services within the List of telecommunications service markets managed by the State they wish to buy.

- The Wholesale Service Provision Agreement includes at least the following contents:

+ Requirements and principles for service provision;

+ Service provision procedures and processes;

+ Description of the services to be provided, including technical characteristics (including information on network configuration when necessary for efficient network access);

+ Service quality standards including at least the service quality indicators that have been publicly announced;

+ Operational and technical requirements that the wholesale buyer must comply with to avoid causing harm to the wholesale enterprise's network;

+ Telecommunications connection content as stipulated by the Ministry of Information and Communications (in case of network exchange);

+ Pricing terms and procedures for clearing and paying for service usage;

+ Service payment methods;

+ Process for implementing changes (additions or reductions) in services;

+ Solutions to ensure infrastructure safety and information security;

+ Provisions on information confidentiality and data privacy used in the provision and usage of services;

+ Other rights and obligations of the wholesale buyer (if any);

+ Provisions on the right to terminate the Agreement and compensate for damages in case one of the enterprises does not fulfill the commitments in the Agreement;

+ Dispute resolution, compensation, and complaints;

+ Contact information.

- The wholesale enterprise shall send a written document to the Ministry of Information and Communications (Department of Telecommunications) in case specific guidelines on the content of the Wholesale Service Provision Agreement are needed.

Le Nguyen Anh Hao

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